Part-time Mafia Boss!
by Tea-StainedBrain
Summary: One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Join Tsuna in his journey of self-discovery and solving mysteries of his Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Tokyo! No pairings. AU. DARK later.
1. Prologue

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

**Prologue**

He was blessed with any sorts of luxuries existing in this world.

He was the Don of the world's most powerful, most established and wealthiest mafia famiglia in Italy, the Vongola.

He not only obtained the unconditional reverence and absolute obedience from other key mafia families to the Italian president but also inherited a great fortune passed down from generations of his mafia don ancestors.

He had a main mansion that was ten times larger than the white house and more elaborately ornate than the Versailles, along with ten holiday resorts dotting across the country and all sorts of lodgings across the globe. He also had more than twenty lavish cars in his garage (most of which were for the family's common use, though). He had uncountable number of bodyguards and subordinates under him, including the most skilled assassins of the generation, his six 'guardians.' He had hundreds of servants, maids or butlers, as well as first-rate world-class chefs, constantly and dutifully waiting on him.

He had his own office bureau, which was as cavernous as a cinema room, with the world's most intact ebony writing table just before the giant panes of glass window draped by the priceless curtains woven by an experienced Florence artisan.

Likewise, his bedroom was probably one of the most extravagant among the incredibly prodigally furnished chambers of the colossal mansion. Defeated by his writing room only in terms of size and space, the bedroom, meticulously designed to be the sanctuary comfortable and relaxing after the boss's exhausting day full with duties (and paperwork) as well as befitting and showing off his glory and status as the boss of Italy's most influential mafia famiglia. All the furnishing was made of exotic and rare wood, such as ebony, timber and mahogany, delicately carved by veteran and renowned craftsmen. The canopy bed was probably too large for only his small Asian physique, but it signified his authority. The walls were decorated with the coveted and desperately sought-after paintings and art works of the world's famous artists, ranging from Van Gogh to the Pre-Raphaelite Rosetti brothers.

Indubitably, Sawada Tsunayoshi, the great don of the Vongola, was acquainted with these luxuries and the high-class environment.

So, he was _more than_ surprised when he woke up only to find himself in an old, rusty, stale and moldy lowly apartment 'cell' with the claustrophobic size of 4 tatamis (1.653 square meters X 4)!

It was practically totally empty with the exception of the traditional space-efficient Japanese drawers and the small built-in kitchen compartment. No precious, designer furniture! No small writing table! No coffee table! Not even an en-suite bathroom!

And, worst of all, **NO BED**!

Yes, the great Sawada Tsunayoshi found himself on Japan's primitive invention for resting and sleeping, the cold, thin and pedestrian futon!

Why is he here in this dirt-poor living quarters? Yes, it may be true that he once imagined himself before meeting Reborn that he might as well end up leading his dame-dame life in this sort of desolate shelter. But, hey, he _did_ meet Reborn and became the great mafia don, right?

Not to mention the fact that he was supposed to be in Italy. If he remembered rightly, he had plans to attend a meeting with all the allied families, then the guardians and finish as much of the hellish paperwork of doom as possible. Busy with the overflow of the never-ending duty and work of the boss, he had not been back to Japan for three years now. He did not even remember buying or arranging for a flight ticket back here.

Then, why is he here in Japan?

(Well, if you ask me, where else in the world could you find this kind of cheap tatami living quarters?) He thought…

_What the heck just happened to me?_

**To be continued…**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1  
The Mafia Boss is a part-timer?  
**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

\- (*) = with a foot note in the author's comment section

* * *

_**** Edited 8/4/2015**_

* * *

Sawada Tsunayoshi, the head of the great Vongola family, was now pacing in circle in distress. The situation he found himself in was just too troublesome. He had piles of paperwork to drill, okay!? But his conscience guided him to calm down first. Like a good boss should, he must _keep calm and carry on_.

So calmly he sat down and began recalling. Instead of coming up with a possible explanation, his frown deepened. To his slight shock, he realised his memory right before him waking up and finding himself in this unfamiliar place _all blank_. In other words, he had a short-term memory loss just before he somehow got here. _Very suspicious_, he thought and started to get up and survey the room to look for more clues to explain his situation.

All of a sudden, his stomach made a cry of hunger.

'**Never mind that, I must fill my stomach first!**' Tsuna resolved urgently and checked the fridge, which only had only one useless rotten onion. His stomach screamed louder as if pressuring him.

"I know. I know," he scolded his stomach, "No choice but to do some shopping, right?" The mafia boss sighed and checked how much money he got in his wallet. Only two 100-yen coins, three 5-yen, and ten 1-yen.* Barely enough to sustain his life… 'I need to withdraw some money too, huh?' the brunet made a mental note, took a pair of jeans and a hoodie and got changes, noticing he was wearing his own pajamas, hopefully meaning he was not in a parallel world or something (though his intuition suggested otherwise). It's probably the first time Reborn was pulling a prank on him.

He then dashed out of his parallel self's narrow living space.

Only to be awe-struck by the scenery of densely and systematically aligned residential area with a noticeably more polluted air. This was not his Namimori. But luckily in Japan (as his English still sucked). Having spent most of his life either in Namimori or Italy (since he turned 18), he hardly had any confidence about his knowledge on the way around other cities. At that point, he began to become quite anxious…

Fortunately, the door on his right opened, and out stepped a young adult woman around his age with long orange hair and large doe-like amber eyes. She was humming merrily in her own world.

Wait, he definitely knew this girl!

'Sasagawa Kyoko,' the name immediately popped up in Tsuna's head. She was, after all, his former crush and his middle school's idol.

He didn't know what sort of relationship his para self had with her, but he would treat her as a normal neighbor for now…

"Excuse me," the brunet called out, making the orange head start in surprise.

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you know how I can get to the closest convenience store?"

The brunet expected the young woman to be slightly skeptical of his behaviours since he should already know his way well as a resident of this neighbourhood.

But the big-eyed woman replied cheerily and innocently "Yup! Just go straight down this road, turn left after four blocks. You will come across an intersection. The convenience store is just cross the road!"

'So she's as air-headed as her other world's self,' Tsuna sweatdropped.

"Thank you," Tsuna said, "K- I mean – Sasagawa-san."

"You finally remember my name!" the orange-haired woman smiled sweetly.

_Wow, she had an air of the sunflowers_ _as well…_

The mafia boss got out of his (cheap and rusty) flat, noticing a pole nearby written '1-2-3 \ Y city \ X Ward \ **Tokyo Prefecture**.**' What? So he is in Tokyo, Tsuna mentally nodded in understanding.

He followed his neighbour's directions and got to the convenience store with ease. He approached the cash machine nearby. _Wait_, he didn't know his pin number! But, no worries, he was coached how to _hack _by Reborn several times in his teenage years before. ATM included.

However, a girl's voice snapped him out of this train of thought, "There you are! _Sawada _!"

The girl had sleek black hair cut short in an alluring wavy bob style. She was wearing a prim waitress uniform with square black apron. Exhausted but still wearing a professional air, she panted heavily, "S-Sawada!"

Of course, he recognised this girl as well. It was no one but the sharp-minded, mature Kurokawa Hana, the man-hater of his second-year middle school class. Still, his experience in the mafia made him wary. He didn't know what sort of connection he had with her on this world. She could well be an assassin… A Spy? Tsuna's mind automatically ran to **fifty-six** possible ways to deal with her…

He almost gave his old girlish squeak when the 'assassin' grabbed his hand and started dragging him, "let's go!"

Immediately, he freed himself from the grasp with caution. The girl looked at him confusedly if he was alright there.

"Sawada, you're late for your shift already, you know!?"

"Sh-Shift?" the boss was surprised by the unexpected word at first. Then the information sunk in, remembering he was in a parallel world, "Oh."

But, wait.

_Shift_? Sounds like what those poor college students would talk concerning their part-time job.

_Part-time_?

The black-haired girl seemed to notice his petrified silence and waved at him, "Hello, Sawada-san!" The brunet suddenly blurted out, "I have a _part-time_ job?"

The short-haired girl blinked, totally puzzled by this sudden but stupidly obvious question but replied anyway, "Yes, you do, Sawada-_san_. At the Milky Café, remember? Seriously what's wrong-"

When the girl glanced back at her colleague, she found him lying unconscious face down!

* * *

About twenty minutes later, the mafia boss woke up in a couch of an unknown place looking like a staff room. He noticed a folded uniform similar to the girl's next to him.

Tsuna sighed heavily. He had been pondering in his blackout (Is that even possible?) about all this: the desolately cheap living space, a lack of food in his fridge and finally the _part-time job_. He is in **a parallel world**, as he had feared!

Much as he wanted to shriek 'hieeeeeee!' at the top of his lung, he must act _like a boss_ and make avoiding the suspicion which could disrupt the Trinisette a priority. So _part-timer_ he will be. He slipped into his uniform, a white shirt, black trousers and a long black apron, swiftly and got out of the room. Outside, before him were tables and chairs everywhere while on his left was what seemed to be a coffee counter with a coffee machine and the girl who dragged him here this morning.

"Ah, are you awake?" the girl looked up, having felt his presence.

"Y-Yeah," the brunet replied, noting 'Kurokawa Hana' on the girl's name tag.

"Well, then, let's get to work. I'm going to take care of the cashier since you are always awkward around other human beings. You take the orders, okay. Oh, and don't break any more stuff. Remember that the manager said he would fire you when you broke the 800th-"

"How is it possible for a mere waiter to break that many!?"

The girl rolled her eyes as if this was a fact as plain as day. "Just don't break any more," the girl repeated.

Though he could imagine that his parallel self would not have gotten over the clumsiness yet, he could only take the girl's words as anything more than an exaggeration. At the moment, he was not very pleased with her rather condescending attitude. Was his parallel self that despicable?

He was pissed… slightly…

Hmph! He would show her how serving _like a boss_ (what a paradox) was like!

"Onii-san*! Can I order another cup?" a glass-wearing girl who had been reading quietly just now called for him.

"Yeah, sure," replied the brunet with the gentlest smile that made the girl blushed.

"E-Erm," the girl became nervous, "could I have a-another c-cup of…"

The young boss beamed like a prince charming, "I think, our new cinnamon late would suit young lady like you perfectly." Oh, the sparkles!

The girl's face turned red like a ripe tomato.

"So?" the waiter urged, giving a seductive look (Swoon, fangirls!).

"Y-Yes, please," the girl collapsed in her own seat, unable to take the overwhelming charm of the waiter.

The brunet returned with the promised cup of cappuccino, serving it with majestic grace and then smiling brightly, "Bonne Appetite."

More like serving _like a host_…

He returned to the staff room to have a brief break. He saw Kurokawa frowning over two bags of coffee beans seriously.

"What are you doing," asked the brunet out of curiosity.

"Umm, I'm not really great at blending. Usually the manager does it, but he isn't in this morning, so…" the raven-haired girl said with worry evident in her face.

The mafia boss took a look at the beans and concluded even he may be able to help her out with this. Yeah, with all those years of being forced by Reborn to produce the world's greatest coffee blends.

"What blend are you trying to make."

"Umm… We're running out of the espresso blend, so…"

"Espresso, huh? Sweet!"

Hana's face morphed into that of disbelief, "Can you blend coffee?"

"Yuuup, I do," Tsuna confirmed with his signature devilish smirk, making is colleague blush too.

"Can you really? I-If we waste the beans, then, the manager would be-"

Ignoring the girl's suspicion, the brunet picked up and inspected the beans without permission. "Hey," the girl was horrified.

After a few minutes, Tsuna instructed indifferently, "Do you have any Brazilian beans here? Preferably from year XXXX-XX."

"Y-Yeah," the girl rushed to the store room, coming back with a couple of bags.

"Great," the young man started measuring a certain amount of beans from two bags. Then he mixed in the mortar professionally. The girl was watching this in astonishment.

"Done."

The girl widened her eyes after trying smelling it, "It was even better than the manager's!"

The mafia boss mentally smirked in triumph, '_Now you know how great I am!_'

"You are actually reliable more than I thought," Hana admitted in a renewed admiration, "I misjudged you."

"Well, it's okay. I don't look so, anyway," Tsuna patted the head shyly _outwardly_ while _inwardly_ laughed, '_Now you know it, bitch!_'

For the entire day, Sawada Tsunayoshi did a perfect (_excessively_ perfect even) as a waiter. He was not awkward around people as (his parallel self) always did. Nor did he break anything! The black-haired waitress started to change her opinion of her colleague and develop this strange fluttering feeling in her stomach when seeing him smile. 'What's wrong with me today?' she continually asked herself for all day. In the afternoon, the manager also returned to oversee the shop and actually personally praised the brunet's progress.

Nevertheless, unfortunately, it would be proved that the Vongola boss's clumsiness had not been _completely_ cured…

Because…

**_Crash!_**

Resounding, epic and heart-breaking.

Oh, and tragic, too.

That was the sound of a cup saucer breaking in his hand while he washed it. Only _one_.

"I-I'm sorry," said our 'mafia boss' apologetically to the manager and the waitress.

"**Sa**-**wa**-**DA**!" screamed the enraged manager and his body was covered in flames (not literally).

"**H-Hieee**!" the mafia boss squeaked in his old girlish way he had not done for a decade.

His manager approached him with (not literally) killing intent and (not literally) body covered in flame. The brunet retreated a step back at each step made towards him.

But the older man managed to get an iron grip on his rolled shirt sleeve in the end. Taking out his notebook, he read "Yesterday- Sawada Tsunayoshi- _799_ items broken." Then the man glared at the brunet, "That's the _800__th_ piece for sure!"

"This couldn't be true! This is _conspiracy_!" the mafiaso retorted in disbelief.

"Unfortunately, it is _true_."

"B-But how could one person break so many things unintentionally"

"Beats me. You just broke the Guinness world's record!"

"No wayyyy!"

"You Are **Fired**!"

* * *

If anyone happened to pass a certain abandoned alley where the back of Milky café was situated that evening, they would see a well-built young man with dark brown hair staring fixedly at the ground in desolation and a short-haired girl in waitress uniform consoling him.

"Cheer up, Sawada! You can always get another job!" said the girl.

The 'Sawada' looked up gloomily, "_Somehow_, I don't think so."

"You're such a hard-working person," Hana quickly said while patting his back, "though you are always clumsy, stupid, socially anxious and prone to breaking things."

'Should I scold her rather than saying thanks?' the brunet mentally sweat-dropped. He then said, "this is definitely a **conspiracy**. Someone is trying to make my (para) life a mess by breaking all the 800 stuff in that shop!"

The waitress sweat-dropped, "That's quite an imagination."

The girl glanced at her clock and suddenly looked alarmed, "Sawada! Don't you have a shift at the convenience store in 30 minutes?"

"**HUH?**"

"That'd be 800 yen," said a blond guy in blue and white stripped uniform said cheerily at a customer, "Please come again!"

As he reached down to put the money in the cashier, he noticed the familiar gravity-defying brown hair, so he shouted, "Sawada! You're late!"

The brunet approached him awkwardly and hesitatingly.

"Your uniform is in the staff room. Be quick!"

About 15 minutes later, Tsuna was standing at the cashier with a similar uniform, sighing now and then.

Then a lovey-dovey couple approached him with a basket full of ready. Oh no! What should he do! He never noticed how the cashier people do things. This is definitely different from being a boss, an assassin or a secretary, right? No, no, he can do it! _Believe in yourself!_ He must say something along the line of 'Thank you' or 'Please come again,' right? But then what did this shop want him to say? Arghh, he was over-thinking this… He could say anything, right? Even so, it was so _embarrassing _doing this!

"Erm," the couple urged him, impatient of his long silence.

Realising he had to first key in the items, he blushed and did it mechanically and slowly, puzzling the couple.

"A-Ah, that would be –" he said in a drawn-out, hesitating voice, looking at the bill, "1800 Yen."

A 3000-yen note was handed to him. The brunet took it, saying unconfidently "I have taken 3000 yen…"

"The change is –" Tsuna said, pausing to look at the cashier, "1200 yen" He was not very good at maths. Damn you, maths!

The couple casted some weird glances at him before taking money and exited the place. The young boss then remembered the most important part, shouting in an exaggerated volume, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"  
But it was too late. They were long gone.

How lame. Home embarrassing…

The leader of the powerful Vongola famiglia Sawada Tsunayoshi felt like crying…

Too bad. It seemed that the shock from being fired by the café manager affected him more severely than he had imagined. He must maintain his cool as a 'boss'!

"Sawada," said the blond beside him, "Are you alright. You're sighing constantly today."

"I-I'm fine."

"If that's so, why don't you do a god job just for today. It's your _last day_, after all."

"**Last -**? **WHAT**?"

"Hey, don't act as if you didn't know. Are you in denial or something? Last week, you punched a customer so hard that he got sent to a hospital?"

"What? Why would my para- I mean- I do something like that? This is definitely **conspiracy**! The world's conspiring against me!"

His colleague sweat-dropped, "No one's conspiring against you. You just punched the guy because you heard them say bad things about the health care for handicaps. Jeez, I didn't know you're political!" His friend patted his back in uncalled-for admiration.

"…"

Is there really a grand conspiracy against him, or is para self simply helplessly foolish?

At 1 AM, the mafia boss got back to his new 'petty' room with a bag of ready meals (given for free as a keepsake from the store).

Fired from both jobs. Running out of money. Having no memory or idea why he was there. That's the situation he was in.

Oh, how much he felt like crying (T^T)!

No, that's too disgraceful for a 'boss.'

But, then, he was no 'boss' in this world, right? He probably had no connection with the mafia, so he had nothing to be wary or reserved about, right?

He was later proved wrong…

The phone rang abruptly. He was surprised. How would call during the dead of night like this? He picked it up, though.

"Yes, it's Sawada," he said in an irritated voice. He had enough with this twisted world! (Ironically. Isn't a middle schooler finding out himself actually a heir to a mafia don more twisted?)

"This is Kurokawa hospital."

Tsuna widened his eye at the word 'hospital.' Maybe it's about the victim of his para self's fist? "Yes," he replied.

"It's about your relative, patient _Sawada Nana_. Her condition is suddenly deteriorating, so we need to conduct an emergency operation…"

The brunet dropped his phone.

* * *

**To be continued**…

Next… What happened to the para Nana? Tsuna as a book shopkeeper!

* * *

**Notes**

* = 0.89 USD

** = Japanese street address. In Japan, the address is usually pasted on poles as well as houses.

* * *

**Author's comments**

Wow, writing this is really tough!

I got the idea from _Hataraku Maou-sama!_ (Great comedy anime. Go see it!). It won't be exactly the same, but at least this fic also be about part-time jobs and the characters with 'special' or 'powerful' identity being forced to work and live a normal life, which they would find distressing. Also, of course, the other guardians would follow suit! Stay tuned!

_**· I've edited the character from Haru to Hana. You probably noticed how Haru was so OCC! I was rushing when I originally wrote this!**_

_**· I decide that having Tsuna know Haru/Kyoko like the canon plot line would make no difference, so I decide to change the 'Tsuna not knowing part' as well…**_


	3. Chapter 2

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**The Mafia Boss is unemployed?  
**

Kurokawa hospital before dawn was as silent as ever. The receptionist on the shift yawned tiredly. She mentally groaned how she hated night shifts and was glad someone would take her place in half an hour. She would have dozed off peacefully had a gentleman not practically 'shouted' at her, "Where is Sasawada Nana?"

She looked up, about to glare at him for rudely waking up, but only to be awe-struck by the handsome beauty in front of her.

"Where is Sasawada Nana?" asked the smexy man more impatiently.

The receptionist blinked, "yes?"

"Sawada Nana," the attractive brunet repeated in an obviously irritated tone.

"S-Sawada Nana?" the reception lady looked up her computer, "Room 227. She is having an operation in the surgical room 3 on the 5th floor. 2nd ward."

"Okay, thanks," uttered the brunet swiftly, dashing towards the lift at breakneck speed.

"W-Wait," the receptionist was going to ask for his mail address, but it was too late. The brunet was no longer anywhere in sight!

What an inconsiderate staff...

* * *

In front of the said room, a middle-age nurse was waiting anxiously. She lightened up when she saw him. "Sawada-san!" she called out.

"H-How was my mother?" said the sweating brunet in a panting voice.

The nurse replied frankly, "as you know, we try to reduce her blood pressure and the vessel swelling in the brain by surgery, but it has a very low success rate like the first attempt, but at least it would keep her alive a little longer..."

"...What's wrong with her?"

The nurse gave Tsuna a pitying look and said calmly, "I know you always deny it, but she has a stroke* after a 'car accident.' Please face the truth."

The mafia boss felt a bit convulsed hearing that. However, recalling that it was a parallel world, he regained his composure.

"Anyway, thank you for informing me," the brunet said sincerely gratefully.

"No problem. We were very worried since you, who would visit Mrs Sawada every day and keep her company at night, suddenly disappeared without any contact for the last three months..."

Tsuna frowned at that. 'It seems the circumstances of my para self are far more complicated than I had thought,' he mentally noted.

"B-But, more importantly, we are afraid that the government healthcare aid would not be enough for the surgery. Y-You see, Japan is in recession, and they cut down on health service perks..."

Tsuna mentally cried "Ahh!" in understanding. The buts and pieces started to fall into their places in his para drama.

His para self had to work two part-time jobs not only to sustain his own livelihood but also to provide the necessary medical care for his mother.

He punched the customer who insulted the state welfare he found insufficient as he felt personally insulted.

Then the kind voice of nurse interrupted his train of thoughts, "S-So, Sawada-san? Is it alright?"

"Y-Yes?"

"The fee?"

"Opps..." He completely forgot the main problem.

The brunet smiled apologetically, "How much is it?"

"We will know after the surgery. I just have to make sure you're okay with it. We know you're just a college student holding two part-times without the other parent supporting you..."

"Wait, the other parent? You mean da— my father?"

"Yes?"

Yeah, now that he thought about it, "Where is that bas— him?"

"He has gone missing, you know that."

The mafiaso's frown deepened. Was his para dad also involved in the mafia? Was he even alive?

But there was another thing that needs to be clarified, "And the college student bit?"

At this point, the nurse stared back curiously, "Sawada-san!? Why are you asking so many rhetorical questions about yourself today? Do you have partial amnesia or something? Would you like to have a check-up?"

"N-No, thanks," the brunet from another world rebuked himself for acting suspiciously. He would find a less dodgy way to investigate his para life in details later.

Actually, being diagnosed as an amnesia was perfect for the investigation.

"A-Actually, a check-up is not a bad idea, but is it free?"

* * *

Half an hour later the brunet came out of a psychiatrist's office whistling with a certificate that he was a moderate case of amnesia with only the memory of his name, family members' names and jobs.

Now he could go to the ward bureau and have a good excuse to 'research about himself.'

He soon found the same nurse waving at him. His mother's operation was over, it seemed.

From her relieved look, it appeared to be successful, fortunately.

"Could I see my mother?" asked the brunet.

"Erm— I am terribly sorry, but that is not advisable for patients who just received an operation."

The brunet's face probably grew so obviously disappointed that the nurse gently told him, "But tomorrow should be fine!"

The mafia boss smiled sadly as thanks to her kindness while not forgetting to ask, "And the fee?"

"Oh, that would be ¥ XXX,XXX"

The brown-haired man's jaw literally dropped. What's with his financial situation today?

"I-Is there an ATM nearby?"

So to the ATM in the basement he rushed.

Oh no, he didn't know the PIN number for his para card!

Should he hack? Well, that's okay but too time-consuming.

He could try a more primitive approach– guessing.

After trying random numbers for ten times with five cards. He was left with the

last card. He then decided use his world's code as a last resort.

He keyed '2795' (AN: My favourite pairing :P, hu hu)

And miraculously it worked!

(Why hadn't he tried it before!)

He literally (again) jaw-dropped when seeing the balance.

¥ 300

Oh, how was he supposed to get by with that about of money!?

He checked the last pays he got today. ¥12,000 and ¥3,000... ¥15,000? Still too meagre for the expensive brain surgery!

What should he do?

Normal people would probably come up with 'borrowing from a bank' or 'postponing the payment.'

But this is Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola's supreme leader we are talking about.

Robbing a bank? Blackmailing his ex-managers? Blackmailing the hospital? Nah, he had no confidential info on them...

What about... terrorising the hospital with bloodshed?

The bloodthirsty mafia don grinned psychotically at the thought.

Fortunately (for the hospital and herself), the nurse touched the (about-to-go-maniacal) brunet's shoulder in understanding, "Sawada-san, it's okay for you to postpone the payment until you have enough money. We know you're in a tight financial situation.

That really broke his evil train of though. Actually, it surprised him how he overlooked such a simple solution. Perhaps he had got too used to the darkness of the underworld.

* * *

By the time Tsuna got everything in place and left the hospital, it was about 7 in the morning. He did not have much money, so he decided to walk home instead of taking the train.

Sadly, that would take at least 40 minutes. So, on his sleepy return on foot, his stomach growled. He sighed and bought the cheapest onigiri in a nearby convenience store. He then picked a spot on a bench in a small playground park across the store.

Having refilled his stomach, he started forming a plan to return to his original plan.

First of all, he had to improve his financial situation. Having lost two jobs and no able parents to support him financially, he urgently needed a new job.

He would buy a classified/job-searching newspaper at a bookstore later when shops would be open.

Secondly, he really needed to do some investigation into his parallel self. His intuition and the incident with Nana told him things weren't as normal and simple as it seemed. Also, the matter should be serious enough for someone to send him here. Either to have him help his para self or to kill him.

He would go to the ward office, asking for documents on his own history with an excuse of amnesia.

With that decided, he immediately felt more relaxed and began to doze off into his dreamland.

When he woke up again, it was already midday. He groaned as he looked at the clock, feeling he had wasted the precious time sleeping. Anyway, he immediately headed for a book shop. Luckily, there was one just crossing two blocks from the park.

* * *

"Irasshaimase~ (Welcome)"

It was the first time the young boss went to the career section. He would admit feeling quite excited. He was forced into the underground career by a certain hitman since middle school. Since then, his dream of becoming a normal salaryman and marrying a pretty housewife was crushed. Unlike other fellow Japanese at his age, he had no need to provide for his education and entertainment at his university. That was provided by his family. In fact, he didn't really go to university at all. He got qualifications by simply staring at the Dean. And, of course, he had absolutely no need to buy and read a classified newspaper. His job was already decided, well, if it could be called a job.

Being able to act normal, feel normal and have a normal job actually thrilled him.

In fact, he was so excited that his hands were shaking. His clumsiness resurfaced, and,

Gong!

Crash! Crash!

His foot slipped, so his body fell forward, inadvertently pushing his hands and head into a nearby shelf. Unable to accommodate the weight, the entire shelf tumbled down impressively...

impressively...

Tsuna said out loud sarcastically in a low voice.

"Ah, Mister, are you alright?" a man in his early sixties wearing black apron approached with worry evident in his eyes.

"I-I'm fine. By the way, about the cost... I...have...no..."

"It's okay! It's okay!" said the old man kindly.

"No, let me. I don't want to be indebted to anyone. I have zero amount of money now, though," said the brown-haired young man in sheepish tone.

The concern in the old man's eyes became stronger. He took the younger brunet's hands and gazed into his eyes seriously, "You are unemployed, aren't you?"

Tsuna blushed in embarrassment at the word 'unemployed.' It made him sound so incapable, but he couldn't deny it.

"...Y-Yes"

The old man's eyes lightened at the response. His grip of Tsuna's hands tightened, "Then, would you like to work for me, here?"

The brunet blinked at that. He did not expect such a divine aid so soon.

"Would you like to work for me?" the old man asked again, breaking him from his trance.

"Y-Yes, of course, if you don't mind..."

The shop owner smiled broadly, "Not at all, we're running out of staff since our last girl quitted. We're looking for someone with a gentle character like you!"

Gentle? Mind you, I'm a mafia boss. Cough-cough!

"So, see you tomorrow at 10 AM. I'll tell you of all the work details then," said the older man with a slight hand waving.

"Erm, Thank you very much?" said the really grateful but perplexed mafiaso.

Anyway, Tsuna was elated for getting a new job so soon. Now that he got a job, his urgent financial problem is temporarily solved.

* * *

With such a relief, the brunet could not help but jump-walked like a happy spring rabbit on his way home.

Then, all of a sudden, two suspicious-looking men in dark clothes approached him. The Vongola boss's intuition already detected their presence a long time ago, though.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," the man on the right began.

"Please die," the man on the left finished the comment and pulled out a gun, intending to point it at his brown-haired target.

However, the said target was nowhere in sight!

Suddenly, both men felt a strong force knocking their neck from the back. Then an iron grip on their wrists. Before they knew it, they limbs were tied up, and their bodied were pinioned down on the ground.

The brunet were inspecting them from above. Then, roughly, he removed both men's sunglasses which helped disguise their appearance.

The young boss gasped in surprise as he removed the glasses.

Because he recognised a certain silver-haired face...

* * *

**To be continued...**

* * *

Author's note

Please read and REVIEW!


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**The Mafia Boss got new flatmates  
**

A few hours later, a tall, well-built brown-haired young man could be seen walking out of a budget supermarket. He looked into his purse and sighed. Having to feed himself with his current financial situation (i.o.w practically no money at all) was difficult enough, so having to get some food for _those guys_ was a pain in the neck.

Soon, he reached his flat. Standing in front of his room, he could hear an rowdy argument between a grumpy voice and an easy-going laughter clearly.

'So they've regained their consciousness, huh?' thought the brunet, putting his key in the door knob.

As soon as they heard the door creaking open, both voices' owners went silent and turned to glare intensely at the brunet. Their hands and limbs were tired firmly (and professionally).

The brunet only returned the glare with a calm gaze, "So you've come to?"

Having closed the door and put the groceries down, the brunet squatted down before his 'assailants.' "So?"

The bed-tempered man said in an intimidating tone, "WHO the hell are you!?"

Not affected at the slightest, the interrogated brunet replied disinterestedly, "Just your typical Sawada Tsunayoshi."

He was rewarded with a look of doubt from the silver-haired man instead, "Liar! Sawada Tsunayoshi is supposed to be a mere ordinary commoner!"

The AU mafia boss sighed, "It's up to you whether you'll believe me or not, **Gokudera-kun**."

That instantly made the silver-haired hitman turn to look at him with widened, stunned eyes, "H-How… M-My name…?" Meanwhile, his black-haired partner sent a skeptical glare at the brunet, which did not escape unnoticed as the latter said gently, "You too, **Yamamoto**."

Ignoring the increasingly suspicious looks from both men, Tsuna turned to rummage his grocery bags and started fixing the dinner.

'It seems that they're the Hayato and Yamamoto from this world. They're probably assassins sent to kill/kidnap/attack me. What a coincidence. I wonder what family they're from. Or are they freelances?' pondered the brunet while cooking, 'Let's extort some information out of them.'

'I must remember that they're not the same Hayato and Yamamoto I know,' decided Tsuna as he gave a finishing touch to the dish.

"It's done, "he called out, putting the bowls on the table.

His to-be-attackers literally jaw-dropped at the dish, "Can this be called dinner?"

Before them were three bowls of rice with one pickled plum each. A broke plebian's dish out of manga.

"Yes, I'm already broke, and I even have to feed you guys. Eat or Starve!" commanded the 'broke plebian.'

A tick mark appeared on the silver-haired face, "How the **** are we supposed to eat with hands tied like this?"

The brunet blushed at his stupid blunder, "I-Indeed," reaching down to untie their limbs with ease.

Both men gave a surprised look. "Why would you let us loose. We could escape, you know?" asked Para-Yamamoto.

"Try if you can," the mafia boss fashioned a sadistic smirk at the question, making both men shudder.

After they all finished the scanty meals, Tsuna put down his chopsticks and almost caught his captives unawares with "**Who** _sent_ you guys after me?"

The silver-haired hitman scoffed at him, "The hell I'd tell you my client's name."

The mafia boss from another universe smiled in understanding, "_Omerta_, huh?"

Suddenly, the brunet tilted his head just a few inches from his captives' faces, "If you're not going to tell me, then I probably have to _extort_ it from you. In a mafiaso _style_, yes?"

The two men gulped but their resolution remained firm. "We won't tell you," they refused in unison.

"Humph!" the brunet pouted like a disappointed 3-year-old, making them blush. Mentally, Tsuna admired how even in this world his guardians are still loyal men of principle. It's definitely impossible to draw information out of them even if he killed them.

'_Guess I have to proceed with my Plan B_,' thought Tsuna.

* * *

**"****This is Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun. He'll work with us from now on."**

The bookshop owner old man tabbed the young brown-haired brunet, now cladded in a neat uniform of white shirt, jeans and black apron.

The other part-time worker, obviously, though busy putting new releases on the shelves, made an effort to look at the new-comer with her sunny bright smile. _Wait, it's the orange-haired girl the other day!_

"I'm Sasagawa Kyoko. Nice t-"

"Ah! It's you!"

"Sawada-san?"

The elderly owner was surprised, "Do you know each other?"

The brunet scratched his face shyly, "Actually, we're neighbours."

"That's great. You can get along soon, then" the owner also smiled brightly at the idea.

_'__So bright. This place…'_ the mafia boss from a darker world flinched mentally.

"So, help me with this batch, will you, Sawada-kun?" said the 'bright' orange-haired lady.

"Just Tsuna is fine," the brunet flashed a smile, taking a heavy box of books on the floor.

"The, Tsuna-kun, do you know how to arrange a book shelf?"

"No?"

"First off, look which category the book is in. Then go to shelf of respective sections. After that, just arrange it in letter order, okay?"

"Wow, thanks."

Unfortunately. Fortune wasn't planning on being gentle with Tsuna. The brunet stumbled on his own foot and so…

"Wah!"

_**Clash!**_

His incurable uncool clumsiness was exposed.

To further his embarrassment, the other two shopkeepers filled the shop with laughter.

* * *

After his morning shift, Tsuna was free in the afternoon, so he decided to check out the ward office for his (parallel self's) personal information.

The XX ward office was a rather sizeable white building with seven floors.

He was easily allowed to look into _his_ own records and history thanks to the doctor's certificate giving him the excuse of having amnesia (and avoid being seen as weirdo or crazy) and a bit of acting. He first searched for his general information like birth certificate and academic records.

On the birth certificate…

_…__**Sawada Tsunayoshi**_

_Parents__: Sawada. Iemitsu (Father); Nana (Mother)_

_Born__: 10.27 AM; 14/10/19XX; Namimori Hospital, Namimori…_

The brunet raised an eyebrow. His parallel self is exactly like him so far. So, he proceeded to check the academic records.

**_Primary 1-4_**_: Namimori Elementary School, Namimori, XXX-XXXX __[ 200X – 200X]_

**_Primary 5-6_**_: Aonagi School, Aomori, XXX-XXXX [ 201X – 201X]_

**_Secondary 1-3_**_: Teiko Gakuen, Tokyo, XXX-XXXX (on scholarship bursary) [ 201X – 201X]_

**_Secondary 4-6_**_: Kitakousei High School, Tokyo, XXX-XXXX (on scholarship bursary) [ 201X – 202X]_

**_Tertiary/ College_**_: Hoshino Medical School (On scholarship) [ 202X – 202X (DROP OUT) ]_

Tsuna literally jawed drop at what he had just read. Contrary to his expectation, his parallel self was very academically accomplished. A scholarship honor student! A medical student!

What's bothering him was why such an academic whiz kid like that drop out?

Later, he decided to look at the residence records as well…

**_XX/XX/19XX – XX/XX/200X_** _— __399-7102 —Kawa, Namimori-Shi, Namimori*_

**_XX/XX/200X – XX/XX/XX/201X_**_ — __031-0804 Aoba, Hachinoheji, Aomori*_

**_XX/XX/XX/201X – XX/XX/201X_**_ — __180-0003, Sakura Apartment, Kichijoji-minamicho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo**_

**_XX/XX/201X – XX/XX/202X_**_ — __115-0045, Seito Apartment, Akabane, Kita-gu, Tokyo_

**_XX/XX/202X – XX/XX/202X_**_ — __132-0024__, Flat ABC, Ichinoe, Idogawa, Tokyo_

**_( * = Please refer to records of fire incidents 201X-201X of Kantou region)_**

**_( ** = Please refer to records of estate development in Musashino-shi in 201X)_**

The mafiaso clicked his tongue. That sounds real fishy. So there were _two_ fire 'accidents' in his parallel self's life. Not to mention, _consecutively_. It would sound superstitious and foolish to say it is just because of bad 'luck.'

So, he went on to peruse the estate documents as well…

He widened his eyes at a particular sentence.

_… __**XX/XX/201X**__: __[180-0003, Sakura Apartment, Kichijoji-minamicho_ _]—__bought by __**Vongola Construction &amp; Development, Japan Branch **_…

**VONGOLA?**

* * *

**_To be continued…._**


	5. Chapter 4

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**The Mafia Boss forces his freeloader to get a job  
**

"So you're **fired**," said a certain brunet to a certain silverette.

"How the **** would I not? What kind of **** job did you just put me in" Gokudera angrily retorted.

"Well, you see. I saw this advertisement in front of a bar in Roppongi, and it says 'A job with high pay in a short time'," answered Tsuna with a straight face.

"That certainly sounds fishy! And why the heck would you force your own _assassins_ on a part-time job?"

"It's a compensation for causing me so much trouble."

Both good-looking young men were walking among the light and sound of Tokyo streets at night. One looked clearly pissed while the other laughed lightheartedly.

Then the _royally pissed_ half-Japanese realised the most important thing he forgot to ask, "By the way, who _exactly_ are you? Your combat skills couldn't convince me that you're 'just a normal Sawada Tsunayoshi'."

At this point, the normal Sawada Tsunayoshi stopped laughing, "Would you believe me if I told you that I'm from another world?"

Gokudera went silent for a while before bursting out in an (uncharacteristic) laughter, "The heck? Is that even a joke. How old are you?"

The brunet beamed "Yeah, that's a _joke_. Let's just say I'm a mafiaso like you for now."

They walked on, but for some reason their noisy conversion suddenly turned into an awkward silence. For five or ten minutes, the irritable hitman finally decided to break the ice "Ahem, you see-," but was interrupted by…

"Aha! Sawada-san!"

Before them was a young waitress with two pigtails, cleaning a ramen shop's windows.

The AU mafia boss exclaimed "Ipin!" in reflex.

The girl dropped her work and suddenly grabbed the taller man's hand, "We need more people." She then dragged him inside. Not knowing what to do, the silver-haired guy fought his urge to escape (he'd done it before – with serious consequences at the hand of the sadistic brunet) and followed them confusedly.

A few minutes later, both found themselves in the ramen shop's waiter uniform serving hot bowls of ramen.

'Boy, two shoyu ramen!'

'Bro, three salted ramen, and two pork broth'

'Sawada-san, take these to table #3!'

"Okay, okay." The brunet was exhausted. Why so many orders? Is this place actually darn famous?

"This is your pay. It's not very good, but should help with the medical fee."

"Ah, yeah…" Tsuna suddenly remembered his bed-ridden mother in this para world. _Maybe, I should visit her after this_, he thought.

Gokudera raised his eyebrows slightly about the fee but soon dismissed it as other people's business. Then a hand suddenly grabbed him, "By the way, could you let this young man here work here for a while. He's looking for a job."

Before Gokudera could go 'HUH?,' he was painfully elbowed by the AU mafia boss, forcing his to nod.

Ipin smiled, "Of course! We really had a hard time when you left! But what about you, Sawada-san?"

"I… erm… have a business to attend to…at night…"

"Oh, it's about your mum. I see. I see."

"Speaking of that, I need to go. See ya," said Tsuna in a hurry, "Hayato-chan, you stay there, help cleaning up."

"Don't decide to put 'chan' on your own!" the silverette snarked. But the culprit is already out of the shop.

The Chinese girl beside him suddenly laughed, "Ha ha ha. I've never seen Sawada-san so merry. Must be thanks to you."

"Me? No, that guy has always been a laughing creep."

Contrary to Gokudera's expectation, the waitress smiled eagerly at that, "Wow, Sawada-san finally got a friend, close enough to insult each other!"

"HUH?" Gokudera finally exploded at being clueless for a while.

"Oh, oh. Don't tell me you don't know Sawada-san's situation?" asked the girl in a sad tone.

Gokudera raised another eyebrow, "Nothing. That guy never…"

The waitress forced a smile, "You're better off not knowing."

Normally, Gokudera hates meddling other business too, but the said guy is his target with _suspicious identity_ and _suspicious fighting skills_. "No, tell me, w-we're 'friends,' so it's best if I know."

The Chinese girl nodded gently, "Yeah, I think so too. Well, I don't know much, but let's start from the time I first met Sawada-san." She turned off the faucet.

* * *

_I'm an exchange student from China. I'm doing a Japan studies and P.E. course, specializing in martial arts. The college I went was affiliated with the medical school Sawada-san went to. I met Sawada-san when our schools held this joint Sports week together. I represented my college in the karate match. I even managed to make it to the championship match…_

"Bow!"

"Get to your position!"

_'__I have to win this match. For everyone!' I think._

"Eh?" _Before I know it, I accidentally twisted my heel._

"With this, Ipin Zhen is disqualified. Kanazawa Hideo won!"

Everything just felt so unrealistic. _I… lost? For being clumsy…?_ I couldn't stop my tears. I have practiced for half a year for this!

"Are you alright?" a voice suddenly addressed to me.

I looked up and found a glass-wearing medical student. It was Sawada-san. He was on the first aid team then.

"Can you stand? Let me help you," he gave me a hand.

I was so embittered then, so I angrily snarked, "I can standon my own. Thank you." Then I tried to stand, only to fall and get caught by him again.

"See? I told you. Now, sit," he ordered.

I must look like a brat then. So, I sat as he told. "Let me see your foot," he asked, "excuse me."

"Hmmm… This is not too bad. I'll apply this substance and give you pain-killers to take for a week or two."

"I-I'm sorry for yelling."

He smiled, "It's fine. Must be very disappointing to lose, right? Although you try so hard, fate sometimes… erm… never mind." "Here you go."

"Th-thank you"

"But don't give up. Fight it! You always have a chance!"

_I've probably quitted Karate if he didn't stop me._

'That guy. His mother is bed-ridden I heard' the voice around me started.

'He's on scholarship, and he had to work on two or three part-times, you know?'

'Seriously, he might drop dead from overwork one day.'

'Our course is quite hard. How long would this guy stay?'

_And that's exactly what happened. One day _fate_ forced Sawada-san to _give up_. _

"My mum's condition is deteriorating. I need more money," he said.

"Sa-sawada-san already did what he can! Working at Kawahira-ochisan's place at night, the café in the afternoon and convenience store after midnight! In fact you need to sleep!" I tried to stop him.

"Her doctor said an operation is necessary at this point…"

"…"

"That's why I dropped out. I wanted to treat my mother myself, but what's the point if she die now…"

_Sawada-san kept working at our place for a while, but three months later he suddenly disappeared._

* * *

"That's the story. H-Huh? Gokudera-san?"

The snarky mafiaso was full of tears!

"I-I never knew that he had such a hard life! F-For me, someone who ran away from home and left my only mum alone, I had no place to say, b-but…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, he's noble in his way."

"I'm so sorry, Tenth!" Gokudera suddenly shouted.

"T-Tenth?" Ipin was confused.

* * *

**Back at Sawada's place.**

"Oh. Ha-ya-to-chan! Welcome back," the boss from AU teased his new freeloader.

"Tenth!" screamed the half-blooded hitman who jumped at him.

"HUH? WHAT?" Is this Gokudera from _my_ world?

* * *

_**To be continued.**_


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**The Assassin is a baseball coach  
**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

The brunet sighed heavily as the bed with a feeble middle-aged woman lying wired to countless noisy machines.

"Good evening, Mum," he whispered softly and put a small posy of flower on the bedside table.

Strangely he's so worried considering this 'mother' is not technically his, but his para self's.

However, the brunet had this inexplicable guilt in his heart. Maybe he was simply feeling bad for replacing his para self at his hard times?

This someone's mum was asleep soundly, clearly just put under anaesthetic a while ago. Well, it's not like she would be able to talk even if she's awake. She had a stroke, after all. So the AU mafia boss decided to sit by her bed to keep her company. He was supposed to go home that day, but he soon dozed off in his chair due to the day's exhaustion.

* * *

By the time he woke up, to his panic, it's already late morning.

Fortunately, it was Saturday, so Tsuna dis not has his part-time shift all day.

On his way back, he decided to make a stop at a convenience store for a brunch, passing an elementary school.

"Ah, strike!"

"Sensei! That's amazing!"

Tsuna would just ignore the brats if a most violently thrown ball did not hit his precious face.

"Sorry, sorry," a familiar voice apologised.

The mafia boss looked up and widened his eyes a little in surprise, "Yamamoto?"

That was how Tsuna found out about Yamamoto's new 'part-time.' Apparently, Yamamoto wandered near the practice baseball field, seeing depressed elementary school kids. Upon asking, he learned that their former coach developed cancer and had to resign. Confident in his reflexes, Yamamoto volunteered to be their new coach.

That was also why Tsuna was watching the tall man kindly conversing and instructing the energetic boys with a heartfelt smile.

"Tanaka, you need to move your hips while maintaining a strong foothold to create a more powerful swing," Yamamoto explained patiently with his bright smile while adjusting a child's post with care.

"Oh, I see," the kid mumbled, trying hitting the oncoming ball as instructed.

Clank!

The ball then went over the fence.

"Strike!" Yamamoto shouted.

"It worked, Sensei! I did it!" the kid jumped merrily.

Yamamoto patted his head praisingly, "Good job, Tanaka!" The boy called Tanaka beamed at being praised with great admiration towards his sensei.

Had it not been for him, maybe Yamamoto (in his world) would have a fulfilling life of a baseball career.

* * *

The training continued until the afternoon, when one boy was called home for a tutorial lesson.

"Bye, Yamamoto-sensei!"

"See you later!"

"Thanks for today!"

Yamamoto waved with a genuine smile until all kids were out of his sight.

Tsuna then decided it was time to talk with his roommate, "So you're working as a baseball coach for primary school kids now, eh! That really suits the civilian you!"

"Not really..."

"You're always great at baseball!"

"Today was actually my second time..."

"Of course! HUH? WHAT!?"

Tsuna stares at the black-haired man beside him with disbelief.

To him, baseball is almost synonymous with Yamamoto!

"Well, baseball is not popular in Italy after all," Yamamoto smiled sardonically.

"That means you're not born in Japan?"

"I was born in Japan but later raised in Italy," the taller man replied curtly to avoid revealing too much information.

Sensing this, Tsuna tried to pry his secrets by asking "Is that how you get into the mafia?"

"Y- No, I won't tell you," the assassin was surprised that he almost slipped some secret information despite his precautions. There was something mysterious about the brunet: how he could put you at ease...

What a dangerous person...

Tsuna frowned as he had noticed for a while now how this world's Yamamoto was very distrustful and somewhat cocky towards Tsuna (and Tsuna only). But, for some reasons, he was nice towards innocent people, like the baseball kids.

"Still secretive, huh? How unlike your friend Hayato-chan."

"I also wonder what kind of brainwashing you did on him," Yamamoto retorted harshly.

Tsuna sighed at that, thinking how this world's Gokudera's 360-degree turn of attitude a few days ago confused him for a moment if the guy was actually from his universe.

But he later learned that the guy was simply moved by his para self's tragic life story told by I-Pin...

"I... didn't do anything?" the brunet answered with a dry smile.

"..."

"By the way, do you like kendo?"

The black-haired man snapped and turned to stare at the brunet most skeptically.

After a minute's silence, "So you even did some background research on your assassins?" one of the 'assassin' said.

Tsuna smiled at this new OOC Yamamoto sardonically, imagining what a hard life his left-hand friend was facing in this world, "So even a common hitman-for-hire is a swordsman these days..."

"... I'm not a... swordsman," Yamamoto corrected in an almost inaudible voice.

Tsuna widened his eyes a bit at that.

The black hair continue, "It's true that my family inherited a very famous assassination sword technique, but my father was... killed before I got to learn it."

Tsuna was about to utter something, but was interrupted by an extreme shout...

"GOOD EVENING TO THE EXTREME!"

Tsuna did not have to guess to know that he would be turning only to find an AU version of a certain turf-haired senpai, who was his sun guardian.

What troubled him was whether he was supposed to act like a stranger or an acquaintance to Ryouhei of this world.

"Hi, I'm Sasagawa Ryouhei. I'm new to this city. Nice to meet you to the EXTREME. What's your EXTREME name? You must be the EXTREME Tokyo PEOPLE!"

Well, no need to ask.

"Hi, there, I'm Yamamoto," Yamamoto smiled friendly. (To Tsuna's irritation, such a difference in behaviors!)

Tsuna was obliged to self-introduce as well, so he uttered, "Sawada Tsunayoshi. Nice to MEET you?" With a raised eyebrow, of course.

"Sawada TSUNAYOSHI?" Ryouhei suddenly repeated his name in extreme tone.

"Yeah?" Tsuna raised the other eyebrow to achieve the confused effect.

"I KNOW! YOU'RE DAME-TSUNA to the extreme!"

"Pardon?" Tsuna scratched his head in response.

"We EXTREMELY went to Nami Primary together, REMEMBER?"

In his world, he met Ryouhei at middle school, but, well, he had to play along here, so Tsuna put on an act of a dude reunited with his sole brotherly figure, "OH MY GOD, Ryouhei-senpai! It has been a while!" (Hope this is not too fishy, Tsuna prayed)

"You moved out EXTREMELY sudden! What EXTREME stuff have you been doing all these EXTREME years?" (Thank God he's thick, Tsuna mentally sighed.)

"Well, all sort of things," Tsuna didn't know much either, "By the way, what're you doing in Tokyo?"

Ryouhei then started dramatically, "You're EXTREME, Sawada! I almost forgot to the EXTREME!"

The senpai then wrecked his backpack for a piece of badly drawn map, "Well, I'm looking for this extreme place.

Tsuna almosy literally faced-palmed at the map. It was so basic with just one road and unnamed apartment. He wanted to say in as -a-matter-of-fact tone, "Well, you need to search all of the apartments in the entirety of Tokyo." But, well, let's not do that for now. This world's Ryouhei was also pretty bad at drawing...

"Excuse me, senpai. But who're you looking for?"

"EXTREMELY good question Sawada! I'm looking for my EXTREME sister!"

"You mean Sasagawa Kyoko?"

"EXTREMELY!"

* * *

And that was how the three men headed to the shabby flat together.

"So the room next to mine is..." Tsuna was about to explain to his onii-san, but was interrupted by random people's arguments.

"Just let me see him!"

"WHAT the heck do you have with Tenth!"

Wait, they were not 'random' people after all.

A certain silver-haired boy was glaring murderously at a lanky bespectacled man with brick red hair, whom Tsuna recognised as...

"Just tell him Irie came."

"Why should I let a pleb like you!?"

"Excuse me, but who are you referring to as pleb?"

"You, of course. You have no right to be under the grace of Tenth!"

"If by Tenth you mean Sawada Tsunayoshi, then he's as PLEB as I can be."

"YOU INSO–"

Tsuna stepped in "STOP!"

Both the silver-haired and red-haired looked at him and smiled excitedly, "Tenth/Sawada!"

Gokudera slithered his way to his beloved 'Tenth' immediately, "Welcome home, the person I deem fittest to be Vongola Tenth, my future boss," doing a Dogeza theatrically.

But he was ignored; Tsuna turned to Irie Shoichi, "Erm... Hi?"

In response, Shoichi pouted "Sawada! Why don't you answer your freaking phone! I thought you were dead!"

"Phone? I thought I was too poor to have one!" Shocked by the revelation of this unexpected level of wealth(?), Tsuna blurted out without thinking.

"WHAT? I bought it for your 17th birthday, right?" Shoichi stared at Tsuna, disbelieved. Tsuna sweat-dropped.

"HEY, IS THIS YOUR EXTREME friend?"

Thank god, I forgot about Ryouhei!

"Just a sec, kay," Tsuna told Shoichi then turned to Ryohei, "Your sis is in next room, onii– I mean Senpai."

"OH, THANKS TO THE EXTREME!"

As Ryohei went his way, Tsuna invited everyone in.

"Tenth! Welcome back."

"Haha, Gokudera. You've said that already!"

"Shut up, you baseball freak!"

"Heyy, I just picked up baseball last week!"

Irie Shoichi looked around commenting "Quite lively these days, huh?" or "Very crowded these days, eh? ...etc.

"Yeah," Tsuna agreed simply, though his intuition sensed something bad.

Irie then stared into Tsuna's eyes pensively as if trying to solve an unsolvable equation.

"Sawada."

"Yes?"

"Can we have a private talk" Irie's request surprised Tsuna slightly.

"S-Sure."

Outside the tatami room, on the narrow corridor was where Vongola Decimo Sawada Tsunayoshi was asked...

"You are not the Sawada Tsunayoshi I know. Am I right?"

By the guy called Irie Shouchi.

* * *

To be continued...


	7. Chapter 6

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

**Chapter 6  
**

**The mafia boss got exposed  
**

"You are not the Sawada Tsunayoshi I know, right"

That certainly was a sudden bolt to the mafia boss from an AU.

Tsuna started to think of thousand possible ways to escape this.

A-hem, first off, feign ignorance to see how far he knew!

"H-Huh? What do you mean?" Tsuna pretended to blink and look utterly confused.

At this, Irie's assertiveness broke down. "O-O-Ouch," the guy came down with a nervous stomachache instead. As he was holding his stomach, he looked up at Tsunayoshi and said, "L-Let me rephrase: who are you? The Tsuna I know is definitely not like you at all."

Tsuna sighed in relief. So the guy didn't figure out about AU stuff. (By the way, why does this guy always have a pathetically chronic stomach attack in every world?) Still, it would be impossible to get away with insisting he was this world's Tsuna as Irie seemed to know that well. The bond between him and this world's self of him was probably strong. At least, his intuition could tell that much.

"So do you think I'm an imposter," Tsuna prompted.

Irie nodded, "That's the only scientifically possible explanation."

Tsuna sighed again, this time out of frustration, "Could you give me more specific reasons for your thinking I'm an imposter?"

"Erm... firstly, the Sawada I know refers to me as 'Irie,' not 'Shoichi-kun.'"

"I think that's not enough to conclude that I'm not your 'Sawada Tsunayoshi'"

"Wait, I'm not finished... Secondly, the Tsuna I knew wouldn't invite clearly dangerous people, especially the ones after his life in his vicinity, not to mention same flat! And thirdly, you are not wearing glasses! Fourthly, you are somewhat cockier than normal. Besides, you forgot about your one and only birthday present from your one and only friend! Next, the real Tsuna is walking with his left foot first then right. Also, he had two fewer hair spikes—"

"OKAY!OKAY! I understand now," Tsuna interrupted before the red-haired guy spent his entire Saturday afternoon elaborating his guess.

Even so, Tsuna needed to make sure about a few points, "So you just said you're my 'one and only friend.' Is that really your relationship with me?"

Irie scoffed, "I said to the Sawada I know, you imposter. And, yes, I'm his friend. We've been friends since high school, so you can't deceive me, imposter!"

Tick marks appeared on Tsuna's priceless face each time the word 'imposter' was addressed to him.

"A-hem! I guess I could not hide this from you any longer, so I guess I will tell you the truth..." Tsuna decided it was no use haggling or duping the stubborn Irie Shouchi, so he started telling about the world he came from (since the time he met Reborn!) and how he recently found himself in this world's Tsuna's minimalistic flat room, to how he took in this world's Gokudera and Yamamoto, who were initially after his life, under his wing just to be on the safe side.

* * *

About an hour later...

"So... You're telling me to believe in this parallel world bullshit!?" was the first reaction from Shoichi after Tsuna finished his long-winded confession and self-introduction.

Tsuna (kind of) sighed, mourning over how science-oriented this world's Shoichi is, "Well, I guess it's sorta hard to believe."

"Yeah, but I will believe in you if you can answer some of my questions," Shoichi unexpectedly compromised, "After all, yours is the best explanatuon for what's going on provided that parallel worlds really exist."

"Go ahead," Tsuna shrugged, wondering if he had to answer all the questions right or something.

Shoichi made a bottomless dark expression before asking in a somewhat sad voice, "Why is Mrs Sawada the way she is now."

Tsuna started at that, despite all his experiences as a boss to always appear calm. This question was a shock. Just how much Irie knew?

Tsuna replied uncertainly, "Stroke?"

Shoichi pressed on, "So what about her stroke? What caused it?"

"I... don't know."

Shoichi then moved on, "Okay, next question: do you why this world's you should be chased by the mafia."

Again, Irie's knowledge shocked Tsuna a bit, but not as much as the first time. Anyway, that's exactly what we was trying to fund out, so the answer was "Maybe I had a blood relation related to a certain mafia family. However, I have no clue why the civilian me should be chased after."

Shoichi proceeded, "Final question: where is this world's you's dad right now?"

"Missing?" was Tsuna's tentative answer.

"Where EXACTLY?" Irie urged.

"No idea," Tsuna admitted and then sighed, "that means you won't believe my story."

To Tsuna's surprise, Shoichi shook his head and smile, "No, it was a trick question asking if 'you can answer,' but actually I intended to check with questions that I don't even know, but the kidnapper and the mafia after his head probably know. So if you're really an imposter, you would have answered at least one. But, since you're just a clueless guy from the other world, it would make sense that you can't answer any as you did. Sorry for the trouble and for calling you an imposter."

The brunet was pleased to hear that, realising how this world's him had such a caring and intelligent friend, "I would be reassured to have a friend like you looking after."

That word seemed to strike Shoichi, whose face flashed a self-deprecating smile, "I'm not of any use to Sawada, I would say. No matter how much I tried and wanted to help him, that guy always kept it to himself, not wanting to drag people in his affairs..."

The mafiaso, seeing himself in his younger years in this world's self, nodded in understanding.

Shoichi suddenly made a Eureka post, clearly coming up with a giid idea, "Anyway, PARA-Sawada!"

Tsuna scratched his head at the weird reference, "Tsuna, as opposed to this world's 'Sawada,' is fine."

"Okay, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Erm, you know I'm a mafia don, right? Normally, you don't call a superior with a '-kun.' (Though this is how my world's you addressed me too)"

"Well, you're not my superior, and I know more about this eorld than you do!" Irie pouted, "Anyway, I was going to suggest you to go see someone I know is familiar with parallel worlds..."

"Let me guess it's Byakuran," Tsuna said in an unexcited face, he's expecting this pattern.

Irie was a bit stunned, "Could you read minds? Have you met him already? Did you go to his club office?"

It was Tsuna's turn to feel confused now, "Club office? What do you mean? I met Byakuran in my world. Well, you know his power, so he has this power in my world as well."

Shoichi finally grasped the situation, "O-Oh, I see. Well, Byakuran-senpai is a forth year in engineering department with me, two years my senior. He was a very intelligent guy, but he had this parallel world cult– I mean– club! People thought he just went nuts from eating too much marshmallow and high sugar-content stuff to come up with this grand parallel world power crap, but having seen you myself, I guess his power might not be delusional after all."

"Yeah, I can assure you," Tsuna confirmed, thinking of how that power gave his younger self such a trouble.

Shoichi typed something on his phone, then told Tsuna, "Yeah, he just replied, saying is Monday after 16.30 fine."

"Yup, my job would be over by then."

"Cool."

Then Tsuna thought of something, "By the way, Shoichi-kun, can I ask you something?"

Shouchi looked up from his phone pouting again, "What's with the 'Shoichi-kun'? And yeah, whassup?"

"Can you tell me about this world's Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Irie put away his phone with a serious face on, "Yeah, I was expecting that. I don't know much, though. It was only in the second year of high school when we met..."

* * *

**To be continued**

_Next time: Tsuna and Shoichi in high school!_

Author's notes: Hi, sorry for the short chapter here, but the next one is going to be probably the longest chapter of this fic, and I'm busy keeping up my upper sixth life. so be patient.


	8. Chapter 7

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

**Warning: Violence and some blood in this chapter (but not gory)**

* * *

**Chapter 7  
**

**The Mute Honour Student  
**

Kitakousei High School, situated in the northen part of Tokyo. Despite the delinquent-sounding name, the school is actually a highly prestigious prep school training kids specially for Tokyo U. Therefore, it was a place where smart, competitive and ambitious kids assembled.

And Irie Shoichi was one of such 'smart, competitive and ambitious' kids.

Or maybe with the exception to the last part.

"I just wanna go to a music school, but mum won't lemme!" said Irie Shoichi, a third-year red-haired boy yawning. He was munching his red bean bread in his lunch break.

"Well, that's understandable since you ace Physics! Engineering is definitely for ye!" his neighbour on the left hand comment to his random ranting.

"She forced me into this high school, and when I'm supposed to choose my higher edu..." Shoichi would have finished his sentence if he was not interrupted by a lanky brunet walking past their tables.

Yes, normally he would ignore a random classmate randomly passing him, but

HOW COULD HE IGNORE a guy with both cheeks swollen, swollen eyes, broken mouth and an arm plus a leg in cast. Not to mention that IV tube he is dragging along to school!

Is this guy the so-called hospital escapee?

Why are you in school anyway!?

"W-What" Irie interjected in reflex.

Understandingly, his neighbour started explaining, "Well, that's not unusual for Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Who?"

"WHAAT? You don't know Sawada Tsunayoshi? Well, I guess you can be said to be an anti-social ball of the school who wouldn't even notice a famous classmate although he's known by the entire school..." he then proceeded to tell Shoichi, "Have you heard of 'the mute honour student'?"

"The one who scored highest in the entrance exam and all internal exams in all subjects so far as well as winning a full a scholarship to study here? I heard those rumours going a round, but apart from that, I dunno."

"Well, Sawada is that 'mute honour student' and actually part of our class!"

"Oh..." Irie replied nonchalantly at first, then... "Wait, WHAT?"

"Well, he's called 'mute' because he has no friends, never seems to speak to anyone and keeps a minimal contact with people. Not that he's actually mute as he still speaks when necessary, like getting asked to read English text or poem in literature classes aloud."

"So he was bullied for being quiet and too clever?"

His friend shook his head, "Probably not. It is known that ANYONE who interacts with that guy, as 'friend' or 'enemy,' would get into some serious trouble."

Irie scoffed at how superstitious this sounded, "You mean he can curse you?"

His friend shrugged, "That's what rumours say."

'That's ridiculous,' Irie thought a bit before moving onto a different topic and trying to forget bout the brunet he had just noticed.

* * *

A few months later, in a strange turn of event during his baseball session in PE, he was put on the same team as the 'mute honour student' (whose real name he kinda forgot).

Actually, Shoichi was quite interested in how good the honour student's athletic abilities would be as most 'honour students' are great at EVERYTHING after all.

...And it turns out that honour student was not bad, but extremely APPALLING at sports.

Even though Irie always thought of himself as the weakest at sports ever, the hon.s. (his abbreviation for 'honour student') seemed to beat him as a sports loser.

Irie may not be able to catch or hit the ball, but the hon.s. somehow ALWAYS managed to do these in the way that 'helps' the opponents.

The unlucky team B, with these two dame combination, suffered a crushing and humiliating defeat.

By the time the match ended, the Irie found himself and the hon.s. 'responsible' for cleaning and tidying up the field in place of the entire team.

The hon.s. and he grabbed the floor sweepers and started sweeping around in silence.

Deafening silence.

So the friendly Irie decided to break the ice by startong a small talk with the notorious 'mute' honour student.

He cleared his throat, "H-Hey, dude."

"..." (no response)

"Those guys are jerks, making u-us clean after them just b-because we suck at baseball, don't ye think?"

"..." (no response)

"..." Irie was turned speechless too.

'This is awkward,' he mentally facepalmed, 'We need a small talk, yeah, a small talk! Something happy and not depressing!'

"The weather is... erm... good, yeah?"

"..."

"So you don't like baseball?"

"..." (Not even a nod)

"Erm... Your spiky hair is cool."

"..." (Poker face)

"... Quantum Physics is amazing, right!?"

"..." (Even more poker face)

"Please say something! At least give me non-verbal language!" Irie was kinda... snapped.

"..."

Irie now literally double-facepalmed. So the rumour was true! Or maybe the reality was even worse than rumours! This guy is like a statue! a robot!

'What an arrogant, anti-social chap!' Irie thought mentally, giving up trying to befriend the honour student. He decided that the hon.s. was too unlikeable.

* * *

A few months later, the (jerk) honour student was suddenly absent. And not just for a day or two, as he wouldn't care less if that heartless guy was sick or something, but almost a month already.

Gossips went around the school.

"Hey, do you know that the mute honour student went missing for a month now."

"I heard he committed suicide."

"They say he cursed everyone at this school in his suicide note!"

"I have seen his spirit in..."

Well, Irie Shoichi couldn't CARE less. Whether the guy was dad or alive. Whether the rumours were scientific or not. He just had a bad hunch about it. YEAH, hunch. It's not very like him to say that.

* * *

It was a few days later that his hatred for unscientific 'hunch' was shaken.

The school just finished. And like any normal days, Irie Shoichi packed up, said goodbye to his peers and walked out of the school gate.

And that's where the normal pattern was disrupted.

"Boy," one suit-cladded guy in mid-forties shouted at him near the gate.

"Me?" Irie pointed at himself, confused.

"Yes, you."

Irie squinted and looked around. The man was standing near a sleek black expensive imported car. There was another younger guy in suit as well. Both have wear hats and sun glasses.

...

Extremely suspicious.

"D-Do I h-have the h-honour of having a business with y-you, s-sir?" he said uncertainly.

The guy smirked a bit and waved a hand cueing Irie to come closer.

Irie did accordingly, only to feel a strong hit at his stomach, then a cloth over his nose. Soon, he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Irie opened his eyes only to wonder if he's actually awake. The room was so dark that he couldn't see where he was.

He tried to look for a switch. Wait, he couldn't stand? Then, a realisation suddenly sank in that he couldn't move his limbs. Feeling a sensation of cloth, he assumed he was tied to a chair, recalling how he was abducted.

Hearing the noise, the kidnappers knew he came upon and decided to turn in the lights.

Irie was a bit blinded by the sudden brightness. But as his eyes tried to adjust, he saw a place and faces he couldn't recognise. He guessed he was in some sort of abandoned factory storage room.

"Where am– ...!?" Irie realised he could talk.

One kidnapper grinned, "Calm down, boy. Let's be friends, shall we?"

The other added, "We only need you to answer some questions about a 'certain' person. Then we will release you back home safely."

The older kidnapper dragged the other chair and sat in front of him, "Alright, boy, firstly do not tell anybody about us, especially to the police. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee your and your family's safety in the future."

Irie nodded without hesitation.

"Let me emphasise again that we only need you to answer a few questions. You see, we're looking for a boy who seems to be your 'friend.'"

"W-Who?" Irie asked shakily, an image of his good friends flashing in his mind.

"You know who we're talking about"

"Sorry, but not even a clue," Irie replied apologetically.

Out of nowhere, an unexpected kick hit him. hard. Irie felt like puking even.

"Don't pretend. Tell me where are you hiding that boy!" the sweet talk changed to a scold this time.

"What boy?"

"The boy"

"There are many b–"

Another hit. This time Irie actually puked.

"Where is the boy!" was asked many times. Then Irie would deny his knowledge, only to receive more kicks.

It was only when he knew about the mafia better later that they didn't give him more clues because they couldn't reveal more info about themselves to protect the omèrta.

This went on until Irie was rendered a bloody pulp. He couldn't see himself, but he bet he was bleeding so much that his school shirt had some red stripes.

This was when the interrogator decided to put out a gun and point it at his head, smirking, "Now, let's make it easier to understand. Where is the boy..."

"I-I-I..." Irie shook violently as if he was put in a man freezer, not knowing what to say. He could just give a false answer, yeah! But then these guys would surely massacre his entire family if they found out!

The coldness of the tip of the gun on his forehead made him unable to concentrate.

"Let me countdown from ten, kay? Ten-nine-eight..."

Suddenly, a different voice, "I'm here."

Irie wanted to see who the newcomer was, but he was too scared of having gun pointed at his head for the first time in his long student's life to afford that.

Slowly, the voice's owner stepped out. It was the honour student! Why is that jerk here!?

"Well, well. So the son came here himself!" the guy laughed merrily. The gun was moved from Irie's face to the honour student's direction.

Wait, did he just SPEAK?

As the kidnapper moved closer to the honour student, he chatted sweetly, "Boy, we were wondering where you have been. Just exactly when we were about to get to you, you disappeared."

Though clearly nervous, the honour student managed to smile ironically, "I had long noticed that you guys were observing me. 24/7."

The kidnapper praised back sarcastically too, "As expected of the blood blessed with hyperintuition." The mafiaso was getting closer to the teenage boy every moment.

"W-Wait," the boy suddenly blurted, "Th-think a bit. I-If I-I knew where you are, then wouldn't the cops g-get here a-at any minute?"

The kidnapper raised an eyebrow and suddenly broke in laughter, "Rubbish. Any cops would't believe 'Help me. A mobster is bullying a high schooler.'"

"Y-Yeah, but w-what if I know that cop personally...?"

All of a sudden, siren noise was blaring the place.

"Shit, cops," the other kidnapper cursed.

"We don't have the string over them here. Piss off, fella!" the kidnapper said.

"Shut the kid up first!"

The gun was pointed at Irie and trigger pulled! Everything was happening so fast that he couldn't register it.

Irie closed his eyes. Then he somehow could open them again.

Wait, there was no pain!? He was alive?

"I-I have swapped you gun with an empty one," the hon.s. explained.

"Shit, we had no time now!" the kidnappers quitted their attempt to 'shut the boy's mouth' and made an escape.

Ten minutes later, after the honour student made sure they were really gone, he approached Irie and untied him.

"T-Thanks," Irie just remebered to say that.

"Sorry" was the response.

He then pulled out a first aid kit out of nowhere. "Sorry, this will hurt a bit," he said, wiping blood cake from his face and limbs expertly. With the bleeding stopped and wounds bandaged. the honour student gave him a change of clothes.

"W-wow, you sure are used to this," Irie commented.

"..." that made the hon.s. look even more depressed, "Yeah, this is a common thing for me. Sorry for involving you."

He suddenly made a dogeza to Irie's surprise. "Sorry Sorry Sorry," he said repeatedly.

"Why should you apologise! You saved me!" Irie stopped him.

"But..." the hon. s. shook his head, "it's my fault that you got involved."

He put everything in his tool bix and said, "B-Bye!" He made a turn and marched to the exit with no further word.

"M-Mute honour student!" Irie broke out of trance and shouted after him.

"Huh? You mean me?" the said mute guy blinked.

"Y-Yes"

"Is that what people call me these days?," the honour student scratched his spiky head disbelievingly, "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. Call me Tsuna or whatever. I can see why you were beaten into pulp now. Anyway, see y—"

"J-J-Just wait for a sec. Can you explain WHAT THE HELL happened?"

Sawada Tsunayoshi sighed, "I guess I have no choice. Can we change the place to talk?"

Irie agreed. He wouldn't want to be in such a traumatic place either.

* * *

As they came out, Irie noticed there were no police cars at all yet the sirens were everywhere. "Just a sec," Tsuna went searching something in the overgrown near the storage place and crushed some sort of device with his foot. Then the siren was gone.

Irie sweat-dropped, 'Is that how he pull off escaping from the mafia?'

Irie noticed it was already night time. In fact, it was midnight according to his phone.

Tsuna stopped at a small playground. He sat on a see-saw, and Irie on the other.

Tsuna was silent for a moment before breathing out, "Phew! Let's see. Where should I start?"

* * *

**To be continued...**

_Next time: The revelation? Tsuna and Irie in their college years!_

Author's notes:

Here you go, another rapid update after that short cliffhanger! (with another cliffhanger, LOL. I'm an evil author, yes.)

In case you wonder why I spell 'honour' with a u, I live in the UK, so I'm adopting British English. 

I hope the mafia interrogation bit sounds realistic. I even watched Godfather specifically to write this chapter!

Anyway, review, please ;D. So I don't forget to update! Even a lazy, short or even one-word review means so much to an author!  



	9. Chapter 8

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

_**Previously in P-T M…**_

_Irie Shoichi started describing how he met this world's Sawada Tsunayoshi at high school. Despite their minimal interactions, he was attacked by suspicious men. During the assault, Tsuna suddenly appeared to rescue him…_

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Your only**

It was a moonless night, slightly chilly for an early autumn day. The time was 12.40 on the public clock, so late that people were barely spotted and Irie could imagine how _pissed_ his mum and his cheeky sis were at his absence right now.

Even so, he needed to know the truth…

"SO where should I begin?" the brunet sitting on a seesaw beside him murmured absent-mindedly.

"Erm… About those seedy guys?" Irie decided to give some prompt.

"Oh, they're the mafia, you see," Tsuna said in a poker face and as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh, I see… WAIT! WHAT?" Irie was genuinely shocked.

"I said they were the mafia," Tsuna repeated again in a calm tone.

"BUT– I mean how- how could you be involved in the freaking MAFIA?" Irie almost screamed like a mother-hen. This gave him a stomach ache.

Which Tsuna smiled sardonically and responded to in a surprisingly calm way, "Well, I have been persecuted by some sort of mafia organisation as far as I can remember..."

Shoichi stared at the honour student confusedly, "But what have you done to deserve their fury?"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes behind the lenses sharply, "I won't tell you in great details, but let's say I don't really know."

"Nothing?"

The brunet shook his head, "but from what I overheard one of my blood relations did something bad to a very big Italian cosa nostra to deserve their vendetta."

"So they're after your life," the red-haired boy was terrified in his place. He could feel his heart pounding and his stomach ache getting worse thinking how his brunet friend lived his daily life knowing he would be wiped out at any minute.

"Nah, they don't want me dead exactly," the brunet explained briefly in a disturbingly calm tone, clearly used to all this. Even so, people with Irie's intellect could interpret that it meant "they wanted to mess up with my life into a living hell."

"And those two guys?"

"Just an example of mafia foremen ordered to torment me."

"Why don't they chase after that blood relation of yours alone and not you?"

"That's not how the mafia works," Tsuna elaborated calmly again crossing his arms, "They want total retaliation."

Shoichi thought about what his having one-sided exchange for five minutes led to gulped. Oh, that must be the reason why he kept his contact with others to a minimum. To prevent them from getting involved!

Then Irie wondered, "Wait, how about your parents?"

"My dad is long missing since before I was born," Tsuna said with no lingering attachment to the word 'dad.'

Then Tsuna proceeded with a change of tone, in a very heart-breaking one, "And... my mum...," Tsuna swallowed a lump in his throat, "she... she... would never be able to talk or walk again..."

Irie felt his heart drop at that. He never saw the great honour student so... broken... emotionally.

Actually, the perceptive orange-haired teen noticed that despite appearing cool and collected, Tsuna's hands, illuminated slightly by the street light pole, seemed to shake constantly.

"How..." Irie was surprised at how dry his voice was now, "How... about other relatives..."

Tsuna clearly attempted to regain his calm, resuming in a straightforward voice, "I know no other relatives in this world except my mum."

Irie couldn't take this anymore. To think living with his dumb, fluffy mother and his sassy, superficial sister in a small condominium room would be considered a luxurious bliss compared to Tsuna's wrecked life. At least, he knew if he died, there would be more than five people attending his funeral.

Irie sighed, "So how do you manage your life?"

"A government financial aid... a school scholarship ... and... part-timing... I guess."

"So you have no guardian living with you?"

"No."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"The mafia could pull their strings with the state vey easily," Tsuna smiled ironically.

Despite his natural cynicism, Irie had always been quite proud of his native country, Japan, as a developed country with nice welfare state for the poor and disadvantaged. He naively believed everyone would be provided for and lived happily. He was totally disillusioned by Tsuna's words of truth, in a heartbreakingly indifferent tone he tried to muster to calm Irie down.

Tsuna must be thinking 'I mustn't show my panic or I would make this guy panic too.'

Having no functioning relatives to help and seek comfort from, having to cut ties with any potential friends, having to bear the financial burden, having to study damn hard to get a scholarship and land himself in a good career, having to face the mafia single-handedly, and, most importantly,having to appear calm about it...

That's what Sawada Tsunayoshi was required to do.

It must be a very lonely life.

This guy probably never had a decent 'youth' of a Japanese his age.

Yet, he was not broken.

He did not do drugs, shut himself in or commit suicide... yet...

He fought it all. And that totally awed and stunned Irie.

He was probably deep in thought for too long when the incredible brunet stood up with a "Bye. And... Please never approach me again..."

Irie still sat there, in deep thinking, even with Sawada long out of his sight; even with his slight fear of darkness; even with the terrifying incident today; even with the knowledge that his family was probably now hysterical about him...

He sat there, thinking if he should flee from this guy in need to return to his boring but secure everyday life...

Or...

risk his life saving this lone superman, trying to keeping all the burden to himself...

By the time he made up his mind resolutely, he was found by a police officer... Followed by a round of lecture and scolding at the police box, then at home from his mum and from his dad... He only sat quietly through all this, lying "I went to a friend's house, dozing off and forgetting my mobile. I had some beer and fell down a stairs, so I'm in bloody pulp right now... etc." Which was not convincing at all.

* * *

Irie ended up not sleeping that night and went to school an hour earlier than usual.

Entering his class he expected to be empty, he found the brunet he had been spending his sleepless hours thinking about in his own desk, making paper flowers for money.

A very picture of a guy desperate for money.

Irie cleared his throat and said loudly, "Morning, Tsuna!"

This was what he decided...

He decided to be the only one risking his life to lend Tsuna a hand...

Abandoning such a tragic guy was unthinkable for Irie's conscience.

The brunet faced up

and looked around the room. Seeing nobody else, he glanced hostilely at the orange-haired classmate, "I told you not to approach me" in a soft, rebuking voice.

Irie smiled back fearlessly, "But I decided to be your friend."

Tsuna scoffed, "Sorry, but I must reject your kind pity for my messed-up life."

"I will keep trying," Irie insisted confidently.

Tsuna went back to his work, "Then I will keep ignoring you with my dying will!"

"I don't mind at all," Irie pouted at the brunet's unfriendly front, though knowing it was intended to ward off all potential friends.

* * *

"Hi, Tsuna!"

"Morn' Tsunayoshi-kun!"

"Earth to Sawada Tsunayoshi!"

"Are you sleeping well, Tsuna?"

"What's wrong with your hair, Tsuna?"

"Let me see your English homework, Tsuna."

The following day, the following day after day and the following week, Irie kept greeting Tsuna, to the point that his friend found confusing and even hated Tsuna for ignoring him on every attempt.

"Why would you try to greet such an arrogant, anti-social jerk?" they would ask.

But Irie knew really well what he was doing, so he would keep trying.

After all, he was the only one deciding to help Tsuna.

* * *

Irie Shoichi was quite a geek. No matter how much he denied it.

Aside from his music fanboying, he also enjoyed making robots and tools. So he was made a representative of the school in a high school robot competition, held in one of a shopping mall in a city next to Tokyo on a weekend.

And he won a runner-up prize, losing to a certain albino third-year dude with a disgusting smile glued on his face. Yeah, he was really frustrated and bitter about it.

"Good job, Shoichi!" His dad beamed kindly at him as he stepped from the stage.

Irie stopped his mental ranting and thought pleasantly to himself, "Well, at least it's dad today, and not my obnoxious sis. I guess losing doesn't matter..."

"So shall we go home and show mum your achievement?"

"Yeah, erm, I need to pop in the loo first..."

So Irie intended to just pop in the loo quickly to join his dad again, but there he met the unexpected.

The bespectacled brunet he had been persistently trying to 'befriend' for months was moping the floor diligently in his blue uniform.

"Tsuna?" Irie blurted out.

The brunet didn't even have to look up to know it was him and went for running away from his sight immediately.

"What the...?"

* * *

His dad decided to drop by a ramen place and treat him a big lunch to celebrate his victory. It was just a run-down restaurant near the department store.

He was then so engaged with a conversation with his dad that he didn't look at his surroundings, so his head knocked into a waiter accidentally.

Irie then looked up a bit, "Erm, I'm sorry..."

Only to see a familiar brunet, who also looked at him with widened eyes through his cheap glasses, holding ramen bowls wearing red apron.

"Tsuna!" Irie interjected aloud. When did he get here?

"Oh, is this your friend, Shoichi?" his dad asked warmly.

"Y—"

"No, you got the person wrong," the four-eyed brunet replied for him without hesitation and walked away to the kitchen.

"Ha-ha, that's embarrassing..." his dad laughed, thinking his son just stupidly called out to a stranger.

* * *

His dad asked if he wanted something at a convenience store before heading back, and he replied in affirmative.

He bought a can of black coffee and an ice cream, heading to the cashier.

The cashier, who had brown hair and same old cheap glasses.

"Tsuna! What are—"

"That would all be ¥800. Would you like some dumpling as well?" the brunet smiled flawlessly as if they didn't know each other.

Regaining his senses, he asked "Why are you everywhere!"

Totally tuning him out, Tsuna handed him a slip of paper with an intact smile "Here's your receipt. Have a nice day~"

At this point, his dad even asked 'who's Tsuna? Your favourite guitarist?'

* * *

Irie thought just how crazy bis fay had been. Sawada Tsunayoshi was everywhere! Doing his 'part-timing'! The brunet did so many odd jobs that it crept him out so royally, oh... it's time to get off his train. This is a station where his house is.

"Please take some."

"Please take some."

"Please take some."

In front of the station, a guy was handing tissues with advertisements on. A common, random sight in Japan. Irie sighed, taking one randomly.

Wait, did he just see a mop of chocolate brown hair.

"TSUNA! OH. MY. DARWIN." Irie literally fell on his butt from this deja vu. He almost had a stomachache for this now.

"Oh, would you be interested in having MORE tissues, sir?" the brunet reacted to that with his poker face, but not without a tick mark.

"W-Wait," Irie stood up, "I'm not stalking you or anything, okay?"

Tsuna gave him a cold glare and turned to distribute tissues to other passers-by.

* * *

Since that day, spotting Tsuna doing odd part time jobs became a normal sight for Shoichi. Maybe he didn't notice the guy before, so he didn't kow how this guy was desperate for money.

* * *

He still persistently stal- erm- tried to befriend Tsuna until they were in third year when the brunet couldn't stand his advance, even giving him a punch in the process.

So they ended up having a fist fight beside a canal in sunset (the very picture of youth!).

When the sky went dark again, the two teens were lying beside each other, exhausted.

"You ha- persistent huh- fool," Tsuna managed to nag him with heavy panting.

"You stubborn mule! You lone wolf! " Irie retorted back, though he also had no energy to lunge back.

Unexpectedly, the brunet who always put an emotional front burst out laughing, "He he he..."

He couldn't help but laugh to, "Ha ha ha, we're such idiots."

"ONLY you are an idiot. Just howmany times you got beaten and abducted for trying to approach me."

"But I always survived, right!" Irie said with a smile, "I even managed to escape with my own sharp wit sometimes." It was true that he had countless encounters with the mafia afterwards that his family was so worried that they thought he became delinquent and violent.

Tsuna sneered jokingly, "Though you always got cold feet and that chronic stomach attack of yours, so I had to help you out most of the times! What a pain!"

"Yeah, I appreciated that," Irie gave a heartfelt thanks, giving the brunet a fist.

Tsuna frowned at that, "What? More fight? All beaten like this?"

"No, a fist bump!"

Tsuna looked away. Well, Irie was expecting to get rejected again.

So he was surprised to feel a fist on his knuckle a moment later.

"L-Like this?" Tsuna said awkwardly while still looking away.

That was the start of their bond. Or maybe it had kicked off long before this.

* * *

Sometime later a brunet and a red-haired in their third-year winter uniform was standing in front of a big board with list of many names. Some people were crying with joy, ringing up their relatives excitedly. Others were crying with tears, getting consoled by friends and families.

"I saw it! MY name! Look! Tsuna! I did it!" Irie Shoichi was delighted. His hard work paid off. He would get to an institute of technology next to Tsuna's pretigious med school.

But he saw a brunet looked down dejectedly beside him.

"What's wrong?" Irie asked concernedly. Don't tell me...

"I... I couldn't see my name..."

Irie felt his heart drop (and stomach rumbling), "Wait, let me check..."

"It's useless!" Tsuna said with a serious face.

"Shut up, you scam honour student," Irie scolded with a bad sense of humour, "Just kidding. I mean you studied damn hard that you got a scholarship at our rat race prep school. So there is definitely a mistake!"

"Sawada... Sawada Inoue... Sawada Takeshi... Sawada blah... blah... Sawada TSUNAYOSHI! See? You did it!"

The brunet looked at the board again and blushed, gaping like a fish.

"Your nervousness just clouded your mind!" the red-haired teen huffed.

"Sh-Shut up, you geeky stalker with a weak stomach!"

"Said a selfless freak with abnormally gravity-defying hair!"

"Ha ha ha..."

"He he he..."

* * *

Even though they went to different universities, they still met every day after lessons.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nana's condition worsened. The expensive brain surgeries were needed, calling for medical expert from abroad on monthly basis. Of course, that was too much for Tsuna with his part-timing, scholarship and minimal government aid.

* * *

Three months later, Irie Shoichi received a call.

"Yes?"

"This is Flat ABC's landlord speaking. You're an acquaintance of Sawada Tsunayoshi-sama, right?"

Irie frowned at that. Maybe someone was threatening her ans Tsuna went into hiding? This was not unusual after all...

Warily he replied, "Yes. What could I do for you."

"You see, Sawada-sama had not been paying the rent for half a year already. When I checked him out, he was never in the room. Do you know where he could be?"

Irie raised an eyebrow. It was odd. Tsuna was never gone this long, "I haven't met him for the past six months as well, but let me go and check him out right now."

* * *

He waited and waited, checking out his friend daily if he would return there. But Sawada Tsunayoshi never turned up.

He disappeared...

* * *

Until yesterday, when he received a call from a realtor again.

He immediately rushed back hoping to see a familiar mop of brunet again.

* * *

"But I was welcomed by that silver-haired thug. The end pf my story," Irie Shoichi sighed to a different Sawada Tsunayoshi he found instead of his friend.

"So you didn't know about his early childhood? Anyway, Gokudera-kun is not a thug," the brunet from AU facepalmed.

"I don't see how a mafiaso is different from a thug, bullying my friend," he shrugged.

"They are! Wait! How could you tell!?" the mafia boss was frankly... surprised.

"Experience."

"Anyway, what should I do now? Tell everyone our situation?" the brunet crossed his arms broodingly.

"Probably not. There is no need to do that, right. They don't know this world's you."

"I guess you're right."

Suddenly, his house telephone rang, "I need to grab my telephone. Wait a sec." Tsuna went back in, picking up his telephone, "This is Sawada speaking."

'This is from Kurokawa Hospital. We were wondering when you would pay this month's bill...'

* * *

**To be continued...**

_So end of the flashback arc(?)! Hope you understand this world's Tsuna's situation better now! _

_Anyway, please review, it really makes a difference for an author!_

_**Next time: "Hello, Byakuran-senpai..."**_


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Part-time over Christmas**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

The phone vibrated with the name "Irie Shoichi" on the screen. The brunet picked up and greeted his friend, no his parallel world self's friend, "Wassup, Shoichi-kun?"

"Hello, Byakuran-senpai... is not available on Monday after all, saying he had to prepare for Christmas and all that," Shoichi said in an apologetic voice.

"What? It's just the 21st today!?"

"Yeah, but that guy is so crazy about festivities ye know." Tsuna thought he imagine Irie eye rolling.

The red-haired on the other line continued, "Could we move to he Monday after new year, then? That guy is okay after that."

Tsuna sighed, "Okay. Meanwhile, I will part-time over Christmas."

"Good boy," said the other.

Well, after all the red-haired guy was the reason he felt obliged to double his part-time work. Convenience store. Handling out tissues. Helping out at construction site.

And Karaoke box on this Christmas eve.

* * *

Even with Gokudera and Yamamoto helping, their pay combined is nowhere near enough to pay bills.

By the way, on Wednesday, Tsuna learned from the bookstore owner that Sasagawa Kyoko was quitting her job.

He was then introduced to a new girl, Nagi, who was going to work in her place.

Maybe a weird coincidence acting on him, but this new Nagi girl was basically Chrome Dokuro with no eye patch and hair laid down normally (not shaped in a weird pineapple style).

He met her a bit on Thursday before leaving for another job, though.

"Hi, I'm Nagi! A third-year veterinarian student at XXXX university!" the Nagi girl said cheerily unlike the reserved Chrome he knew.

"Hi, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, a full-time part-timer," Tsuna felt tempted to facepalm at his weird job description.

"I'm working here on Thursday and Friday. Going to take over Kyoko-san on Tuesday and Wednesday for a while!"

* * *

A certain brunet absent-mindedly change into an unfamiliar uniform with the Christmasy music ringing in the background.

"Sawada-san, are you ready!?" a girl's voice called from outside.

"Yes!" Tsuna replied reflectively stepping out.

He was then surprised by a "KYAA" shriek. He was even more surprised that the girl who just let out a scream was no other but Miura Haru.

"Wh-What?" Tsuna asked confusedly.

"Hahi! You're so indecent desu, eek!" another version of his childhood friend, also with a bob cut, turned her face away disgustedly.

"Excuse me?" Tsuna then looked down and realised he had not put on his shirt yet.

Must be the over part-timing.

Tsuna was cruelly awaken by the embarrassing incident, going back to put on his uniform neatly and not forgetting even his thick glasses this time. Yeah, the glasses were _on Irie Shoichi's order._

It was quite ironic for a mafia boss to get ordered around.

Anyway, Tsuna was back, now neatly dressed, apologising to Haru who was totally scandalised, ranting how she hated 'smexy guys' and stuff.

Suddenly, a 'smexy' lazy voice cut in "Just ignore that crazy woman and work."

Tsuna turned to the voice only to find an adult Lambo, no, a high school-age Lambo.

"Hahi, Lambo-san!" the bob girl retorted.

"Are you insulting the great Lambo-san?"

"YES, since Lamro-san is so sleezy desu."

Tsuna was so puzzled that he couldn't help but cough a bit to make his presence known to the other part-timer friends.

"Ahem!" Haru coughed too, "This is Lambo-san. He had been working here with me for a year now. About him? A NEET young master, running a way from his family in Italy."

Lambo immediately retaliated, "Shut up, you old hag! This strait-laced hag here is an Italian studies student who came to beg me to teach her Italian."

"Well, then it turns out that my e-mail pen pal is just a smexy guy. Not a hopeless child I imagine him to be."

"Which means you hate him," Tsuna concluded.

"No, it's more like a love-hate relationship desu! Despite how Lambo looks, he is so unreliable and such a crybaby that..."

Lambo rolled his eye, "Your love for children is so sickening that it is on par with pedophilia."

"Hahi! P-Pedophilia? Haru never thinks of children like that desu!"

It seemed Haru's speech was becoming more normal, but her desu and hahi slipped in sometimes when she was surprised or angry.

"A-Anyway, Sawada-san, personal feelings aside, let's work together for today. I'll explain your duty, so please follow me..."

* * *

Basically, all Tsuna needed to do is to know customers to free rooms and made sure rooms are available for guests who made reservations because it was a busy day for people to enjoy Christmas festivities after all.

* * *

After an hour, he finally got some rest, so he settled down in a counter sighing. Then someone put a can of iced coffee before him.

"Good work de-su!" said the odd bob-haired girl.

"Th-Thanks," Tsuna was quite surprised at the girl's hospitality.

"This is for helping out at our place. After all, this is my uncle's shop." the girl said frankly and sat down beside him drinking her banana milk, putting a box of grape juice on the counter, probably for Lambo.

Well, Haru will always be a caring girl despite her attitude in any world...

"I-I'm sorry about the-"

"It's okay DESU!" Haru interrupted, "I already FORGET about that -DESU"

Obviously not...

"O-Okay..." Tsuna respected Haru's mature understanding.

"I mean, I know that Sawada-san is not a sleezy guy by just working with you. Also, glass guy is not smexy."

"Pardon?" WHAT LOGIC IS THAT?

"Sawada-san used to go to a med school right. Anyone who is a doctor is a kind person!" Haru said with sparkling eyes.

Tsuna felt ashamed and even _hurt_ about the 'used to' for some reason.

Anyway, how could she know?

Knowing what Tsuna thinks, Haru explained "Lambo-san knows Ipin-san who knows about you, Sawada-san!"

Tsuna sighed, "Well, that guy is sure secretive. Please call me Tsuna if you don't mind."

"Hahi? Is that okay? Well, Tsuna-san, then."

Suddenly, a cute girl voice interrupted their self-introduction, "Excuse me, is there any room free?"

Tsuna looked up to see a pair of surprised eyes reflecting his equally surprised ones, "Chro- I mean- Nagi-san? Why are you here?"

"Eh, Sawada-san, are you part-timing today?" the purple-haired girl asked curiously.

"Yes," Tsuna smiled.

"Ku fu fu fu, is this your friend," said a guy with weird tropical hair style he knew so well, Rokudo Mukuro.

Nagi smiled innocently towards the ever-so dodgy-looking guy, "Yes, Mukuro-chan!"

Tsuna sweat-dropped at the 'chan' after the name Mukuro.

"This is Sawada Tsunayoshi. We met from my part-time at bookstore," Nagi intorduced Tsuna to Mukuro.

"I'm Mukuro from Sakuraba art college. Nice to meet you, ku fu, Sawada-kun," Mukuro self-introduced.

"Tsuna is fine," Tsuna said.

"Tsunayoshi-kun, then. Oh,"

Suddenly, that Mukuro leaned his face towards Tsuna very closely. _Excessively_ closely. With a "hmmm" and "ku fu fu." For about 5 minutes.

"You're interesting," Mukuro abruptly said with a devilish grin, "Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Thank you?"

"Hmmm, what do you think, Nagi?" the indigo-haired guy glanced at his friend.

"Yeah, he would be perfect for work!" Nagi nodded enthusiastically.

Rokudo Mukuro then turned towards him, "How about this... Are you interested in becoming my model?"

"PARDON?" Tsuna blurped out.

"Are you interested in becoming my model? I'm doing an end-of-yeah project and I need to photograph a life model."

"Mukuro-chan is a genius photography artist!" Nagi cheered.

"Erm, can I trust you?" Well, his intuition is not ringing, but he was ingrained not to trust _this person_ after all.

"Well, that depends," Mukuro smirked, "But I pay well."

"Mukuro-chan normally paid 600,000 yen for one job!" Chrome confirmed.

Tsuna literally choked on his coffee at that, "What?" That would pay this month's medical fee!

"After all, Mu-ku-ro-chan has a lot of money 3"

Mukuro smirked at his friend antic before staring at Tsuna scarily, "So, what do you say, Tsunayoshi-kun?"

Tsuna gulped, but he needed money! "Damn it! Very fishy, but please let me do it sir!" The mafia boss disgraced himself!

"Ku fu fu, I'll be waiting you tomorrow 9.00 pm sharp at Sakuraba art school."

Next day, which means...

Christmas?

So no rest for Sawada Tsunayoshi?

* * *

**Christmas day, 9.00 pm**

After Tsuna is done with his many other part-times, he hurried to a certain art college, where he met a pineapple-haired guy at the entrance.

"Ku fu fu, you came."

"Yeah, I never miss a job," Tsuna smiled sardonically.

"Sorry, I have to choose today because most rooms and equipment are free today," Mukuro said, "But, well, you probably have no girl to date with today anyway. Fu."

"EXCUSE ME?" Tsuna was quite offended. To be verbally abused by his subordinate parallel is... a bit...

Once they got into the destination room, Tsuna found a few other people getting the things ready. Well, all of them turned out to be people he knew, like Ken and M.M.

"Mukuro-san!" Ken looked up enthusiastically to the indigo guy.

"Okay, please sign this consent form. Quick," M.M. girl handed him pen and the document paper very roughly.

Tsuna signed it rapidly.

"Ku fu fu, where is the costume?"

"Here! I took some from my wardrobe here," M.M. pointed to a pile of _women's_ clothes.

Mukuro grinned evilly, "Well, then, how about you put some of_ those_ on, Tsunayoshi-kun?"

"EXCUSE ME?"

"Ku fu fu, I'm asking you to cross-dress"

"Oh my god! How could you be so as-a-matter-of-fact. Wait, why?"

"Cuz' ye look girly" the blond guy added scornfully.

"Our project is :'Femininity in Masculinity'"

"EXCUSE ME?" How many times had he been using this word these past days?

Tsuna was forced to enter the dressing room with some of those clothes. He sighed. Well, he needed money, so he guessed he had to sacrifice his pride sometimes.

Tsuna took off his clothes, realising that he was in this world's self body, untrained with barely any muscle and untanned. Somewhat curvy even.

Yeah, so feminine.

But why had he not noticed about this until now?

* * *

The last two hours was hell for Tsuna. Having to posted like a woman. It was a shame for the mafia boss. But anyway he got the cheque from Mukuro and he was ready to pay his hospital bills.

Well. this world's Mukuro is a nice guy after all, or so Tsuna thought...

* * *

Next time he met Nagi at work, she of course asked him about the work with Mukuro.

"Heh? You seriously took on his offer?" Nagi asked laughing.

"Excuse me? Didn't you encourage me to?"

"I was joking! Sorry!" Nagi apologised cutely. Tsuna would have blushed had he NOT made to cross-dress.

"Well, you see Mukuro-chan is a famous forgery artist. Well, that's his part-time. He made a lot of money from that."

"EXCUSE ME?"

"I guess your female version picture is now being used for counterfeit passport, bank account, and..."

"Oh, for the god of EXCUSE ME!"

"Well, that's exactly why he had you cross-dress, so it wouldn't affect you directly..."

"But..." _It's illegal!_

"No worries. Mukuro is a good make-up artist"

"That's not the point-"

Well, Tsuna has learned that this Mukuro is **not** a good guy after all.

* * *

**To be continued...**

Author's notes: Hiya, this is a Christmas present for you guys. Sorry, it's quite a filler and not Byakuran, but he's appearing next chapter I promise! I intended to introduce these characters anyway. Next year, PTM will get progressively darker, so be prepared for that! (According to my plan...)


	11. Chapter 10

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**The Para-R**

On the agreed Monday, Tsuna went to work at the bookstore as usual. Spotting the purple-haired girl, the mafia boss had to admit that he was not very acquainted with the absence of his colleague Kyoko and the cheery version of Chrome Dokuro, one of his mist guardians.

"Good Morning, Tsuna-san!" Nagi greeted him brightly.

Suppressing the odd sense of unfamiliarity, Tsuna tried to give an equally broad smile in response before putting on his work uniform.

Soon, the old gentleman owner asked them to put some new books on the shelves. Since there were quite a lot of books, Nagi had to help Tsuna, leaving the cashier to the owner, so she made some 'friendly' chat with Tsuna.

"Yesterday, Mukuro-chan showed me your cross-dressing pictures! It was amazing! I can't recognise you as a guy."

"Y-Yeah, " Tsuna tried his best to sound indifferent, putting a dozen of book on the New Release display.

"Anyway, what are you doing today, Sawada-san?"

"Going to see a friend to get my problem sorted. Tsuna is fine, by the way."

Suddenly, Nagi bent towards him, her face way too close to his, with a "Hmmm..." This made Tsuna blush a bit as 'Chrome with a long hair' is quite cute after all.

"A-Anyway, I'm gonna put this cupboard box in the bin," Tsuna tried to get away from this 'strange Chrome.'

So he didn't notice a smirk on her face

* * *

"Sorry, something came up at work!"

"Why didn't you call!?"

The brunet met his seething-with-anger red-haired 'friend' in front of Hoshino University. He had made the bespectacled guy wait for 15 minutes later than the appointed time, so he was understandably annoyed and worried.

"Well, now that you're here, let's go," Shoichi let out a quiet sigh.

They walked past the impressive towering gate, cutting through a crowd of clever and good-looking young folks.

'Must be one of those in the top tier of the BRJU table*,' Tsuna thought with wide eyes, 'Can't believe this world's me is this clever.'

As they walked, Irie explained some facts about this world Byakuran to Tsuna. In this universe, the white-haired bloke was a third year, studying engineering. Known as a genius but, at the same time, a weirdo. He set up and was now running "Parallel World Thesis Research Society, aka. Para RS, aaka. Para-R." Everyone (in his department, at least) found Byakuran's claim that he had the ability to calculate all parallel alternative possibilities stupid and concluded that he was an occult self-deluded weirdo. Irie was one of them, well until recently.

As they marched past several more buildings and departments, a group of two girls in medical gowns passing them made a scandalised look at the brunet and gossiped with each other.

Seeing that the said brunet was clearly confused, Shoichi explained, "Well, you're the infamous _drop-out_ after all."

Tsuna frowned at that. Isn't dropping out normal at university level, though? Did his para self do anything to deserve particular attention?

"Well, your, I mean this world's Sawada's, story was so tragic that ... How should I put it?... well... Sawada was a legendary case of our college drop-out?"

Tsuna sweat-dropped at that, "I don't think this world's Sawada would be happy hearing that."

Shoichi only chuckled dryly at that before stopping at a run-down one-tier makeshift building one wouldn't expect in such a prestigious university.

"Here we are," he announced.

On the door they stopped at was a sign with the messy scribble "Para-R" written on it.

Irie coughed a bit before knocking so loudly that it scared the heck out of the tough Vongola Decimo, who had to suppress his old-day "Hieee."

Then, a few footsteps were heard and a guy Tsuna couldn't recognise [TN: an OC, that is] opened the door before jumping enthusiastically, "Are you guys first-year? Interested in our club?"

Before Tsuna could decline, Irie said "NO" in the fastest speed Tsuna ever seen, unparalleled even by Reborn's gunshot!

The guy's smile turned into a miserable puppy pout, and a crazed laughter Tsuna would never forget could be heard, "Sorry, Shuu-chan, but there would be no new member to substitute you. Shou-chan was a traitor after all 3, hu hu."

So, 'Shuu' was the name of that OC club member (not to be confused with Irie's 'Shou-chan'!)

The albino made his appearance with a smile so large that his eyes were closed as always, "Hi, there. Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun."

* * *

The two visitors were taken to a crumbling sofa, possibly picked up from a landfill.

"I was really surprised when Shou-chan phoned to ask for my help," the club prez smiled mockingly at the red-haired guy.

'Shuu-chan' served 3 cups of instant coffee on the table, which each of them took and slowly sipped on.

"After all, you left us and joined that underground rock FC in your second year!" said the albino pouting while hugging a marshmallow bag.

"It's not like I want to join this club in the first place," Irie stood up and banged the table angrily, losing all his composure, "I was a clueless first year who got dragged into this weird club of yours..." Urgh... just thinking made Irie's stomach collapse...

"Ha ha..." a certain brunet burst out laughing, "ha ha ha."

The red-haired guy who got laughed at turned his upset face towards the brunet, "Wh-What?"

"I thought Shoichi-kun in this world acted all high and mighty, but, well, he would always be Irie Shoichi."

That certainly got on Irie's nerve, "What are you supp–"

But was interrupted by the club president, "Hey, hey, did you just say 'this world'? Are you saying you're not from this world?"

That brought some calm to Shoichi, who tried to cooly adjust his glass and explained in deep tone, "Yeah, that's the reason I came here today."

So Shoichi and Tsuna explained the circumstances to Byakuran.

"Wow, at aut itty inaesting (Wow, that was pretty interesting)," said the parallel world maniac with mouth full of marshmallow.

Shoichi sighed annoyedly, "Byakuran-san, could you please at least decide to do one thing at a time. Speak or Eat?"

"Dun wanna~" Byakuran ignored Shoichi's reproach and turned his smiley face to the brunet, "So, are you really, definitely, certainly Tsunayoshi-kun from the world where you're Vongola Decimo?"

The mafiaso gave the albino an irritated eye-roll, "Yeah?"

Byakuran tilted his head way too close to Tsuna making a "Hmm..." (Why are all this world's weirdos doing this *cough-certain-cough-pineapple-cough*?)

Byakuran broke the eye contact mumbling something and opened another giant pack of imported marshmallows, "Well, the least I can do would be trying to get that world's me to phone the Tsunayoshi-kun trapped in that world and ask him for you."

"Really?" Tsuna and Irie spoke in unison.

Suddenly, Byakuran made an evil grin, wider and creepier, "But, in exchange," turning to the red head, "Sho-chan had to rejoin our club!"

"WHAT!?" screamed 'Sho-chan.'

"Well, I don't do things for free, and we're running out of people," Byakuran explained in as-a-matter-of-fact-tone

"But what about Zakuro, Kikyo, Bluebell, Daisy and other guys?"

"Well, still not enough for a university-level club!"

So, Shoichi sighed heavily with head down, "Yeah, I will join..." For Sawada's sake!

The clown mark guy clapped his hamd, "Great. I've sent a signal to my para self to go check out Sawada-kun there. So, meanwhile, Shuu-chan..."

"Yes?"

"I know you're not Shuu-chan. Why din't you introduce yourself?"

Suddenly, the anxiety on the first hear's face was distorted into a sly smirk, spilling a "Ku fu fu."

"Ee-Eeek! You are—" the mafiaso let out an undignified exclamation.

Byakuran stared at the unusual 'Shuu-chan' a bit before concluding, "Hmm, you must be the famous 'Pineapple,' the god-hand forger."

"I'm just Rokudo Mukuro, thank you," a few tick marks appeared on the now creepy face of 'Shuu-chan,' "anyway, I'm pretty impresed. You're one of very few people to see through my make-up disguise."

"I'm honoured," Byakuran smiled.

"Wait a minute. WHAT THE HECK IS—" the red-haired college second year was utterly confused.

Tsuna sighed, explaining "this is Rokudo Mukuro, an art student and a part-time forger at the same time."

"In this world, he fools people with forgery while in your world he fools with illusion, right?" Byakuran added.

"Ku fu fu," Mukuro with Shuu-chan's face shifted his gaze to the brunet, "Anyway, I just heard something interesting."

At that, Irie Shoichi face-palmed, "Damn! I really want as few people to know this as possible."

The Para-RS prez laughed at his old member's antic "But, look, Shou-chan, Pineap–"

"Mukuro," the victim corrected.

"—Well, Pineapple-chan," Byakuran blatantly ignored the correction, "could help you with the investigation. Like disguise and stuff."

Tsuna couldn't help but nod in agreement. Byakuran is clever as always no matter what world.

"Well, not like I want to get involved with the underground world..."

'So Mukuro in this world is also a mafia-hater?' Tsuna was surprised.

"Nah~ I got a lot of money from them. Don't wanna make an enemy out of them~" said the pineapple man in slur, slumping into an arm chair.

"Can I punch you?" the brunet and the red-haired said in unison.

Byakuran cut in, "That aside, Shou-chan, Tsunayoshi-kun, my para self just finished his call with Sawada-kun (let's call Decimo Tsunayoshi-kun TSUNAYOSHI and Shoichi's Tsunayoshi-kun SAWADA for convenience)."

Both the brunet and the red-haired geek immediately snapped out of their annoyance at Mukuro, "What did he say!?"

Tsuna's guts told him this was not gonna be great.

Suddenly, Tsuna felt he saw Byakuran making a strange expression before slipping on his usual smiley face, "Well, the Tsunayoshi-kun in that world said he doesn't know what the heck we're talking about."

"..."

"..."

"WHAT!?" it was Irie who first got over the shock.

"I said Tsunayoshi-kun in that w—"

"Yeah, but that would mean–" the red-haired student turned to the brunet, "Wh-Who are you?"

The asked brunet was even more shocked. He was speechless. Isn't this world's SAWADA supposed to be in his place? And if there's someone in his lace, who else could it be if it's not that SAWADA? And HE can't be anyone else but Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola Decimo. He's fully aware of being the Decimo Tsuna.

"I..." Tsuna muttered with widened eye, "...don't understand."

The brunet, who always disciplined himself to put on a strong front, now collapsed on the floor. He couldn't take this anymore. The last ray of hope to go back was gone. He had been trying to withhold himself from thinking too much about his guardians, Reborn, family and friends (and paperwork), but it's not as if those things were not on his mind at all. Now that thins were getting out of hand, even he couldn't take it anymore.

Abruptly, the red-haired man violent grabbed on his collar, "So, you're an imposter after all!? Where is my friend!"

Tsuna couldn't even utter a world at that. His eyes were covered under his mop of hair.

Irie tightened his grip, "Answer me!"

"Calm down, Shou chan," Byakuran tried to stop his junior, "I think he's not an imposter, you know."

At that, Shoichi glared back at his senior, "YOU TOO! How could I trust you! After all, we learn what happens in that world through y—"

Suddenly, a revelation dawned upon Shoichi.

"Exactly, you can't guarantee what I say it's true," Byakuran giggled amusedly.

"Y-You li—"

"But, he didn't do this for free (well, he got you to be a member in exchange), so I don't think he would lie," Mukuro noted, "that's from my perspective as a dealer."

Shoichi also collapsed at that. He couldn't see how could help his friend any more either.

That's why tall man crouched to his junior's level, hinting "Well, maybe your Sawada-kun is simply in another universe...," glancing at the depressed brunet.

With that hint, Irie's fcae brightened, "Yeah! How could I forget that possibility!"

Irie stood up dusting non-existent dust with a new determination, "There are countless parallel dimensions we just need to find one where Tsuna is!"

"But," Tsuna finally said something, though his face still staring at the floor, "I have described all the details of my world, so Byakuran should have—"

"I won't give up!" Shoichi firmly repeated that same word he said to a 'different' Tsuna in the past.

Byakuran clapped at that, "Well, well, how about this. You join our club and we'll spend time checking out all parallel worlds where your Sawada-kun is likely to be stuck in?"

"O-Oh, good idea"

"Ku fu fu, sounds interesting can I help too?"

"Certainly, pineapple-chan, but please return our Shuu-chan back"

"I'm MUKURO, and, for that, you'll find him tied nicely in the toilet..."

Tsuna was the only one who kept silent all this time. He had a very bad feeling about this. Especially that one strange look he spotted on Byakuran's face.

Could it be his imagination? Or is it his hyperintuition acting up?

To be continued!


	12. Chapter 11

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

****Author's note: **Flashback or dream will be written in_ Italics_ to avoid confusion.

_**Warning: This chapter explores a relatively dark themes, including suicide, mafia and murder. This Yamamoto is pretty OOC-ly dark and cruel, but there will be a character development in him.** _

* * *

**Chapter 11  
**

**Raison d'etre  
**

_It was a full moon night, and the Sicilian streets were full of life and people, both locals and tourists, coming out to immerse in the atmosphere._

_Against this background, in some secret crooks and crannies of the cities, the 'people one dares not talk about' were on duty, 'cleaning up' old debts, traitors and unfulfilled promises._

_One man could be heard begging with such a desperate voice as if addressing to the devil itself._

_"Please— at least spare my wife!"_

_Bang!_

_The devil shot without hesitation in his black eyes._

_Despite the plea, the killer proceeded to approach the said woman lying with a broken ankle not too far from the now dead man, shaking convulsively._

_As the street light shone on the face of her grim reaper, she was quite surprised that it was of an Asian man. From what she knew (from her husband), the oldest and greatest famiglia would not take a real Sicilian, right?_

_A ray of hope flashed in her heart that she might be able to persuade a 'freelance' killer to let her child go._

_As soon as she came with this idea, a four-year-old suddenly poked his face out of where he was told to hide, "Mama?"_

_The woman felt her heart drop._

_Bang!_

_Bang!_

_With two shots, two more lifeless copses, of a beautiful young lady and a young child, were made._

_As the hitman got to the main road, he met up with his other partner._

_"Good work, Ta-ke," his 'good fella' handed him a cigarette, only to get refused._

_They both hopped onto a car._

_The older Italian took seat before the steering wheel and started mumbling, "To tell you the truth, I was quite worried how our newbie will do in this level of job. Would he puke? Would he have a moral conflict? I was wondering..."_

_"Godfather's order is absolute," the black-haired assassin interrupted his older partner with indifference._

* * *

That event a few years ago was replayed in his mind vividly as if it was recorded, Yamamoto was on the top of a building. His feet were straddling between some bricks and nothingness. Behind his back was rusty wired fencing. The wind chilly wind was blowing his entire body. He felt like he could fall at anytime...

* * *

Late night, around 2 a.m., Tsuna was finally back in his living quarters. He was so tired that he collapsed right before the front door, taking no notice of a missing presence from his place.

He was later woken up by a panic round of knocks on his door.

"Yes—" Tsuna answered in half-asleep, annoyed voice and was surprised to find a blond-faired face of the Bucking Horse when he opened the door.

Maybe out of his sleepiness, Tsuna interjected "D-Dino-san!?" Tsuna then rebuked himself for his un-boss-like mindlessness.

"What? How could you know my name?" the panting Dino raised his eyebrows, "Whatever. Listen carefully and don't panic." The blind guy suddenly grabbed both of his shoulders.

Tsuna eye-rolled, thinking 'Says a clearly panicking person.'

"Please calm down, okay?" the blond sighed and emphasised again like he was a little kid.

Tsuna gave a quick nod, losing patience at this suspense.

This Dino took a deep breath and bowed, "Please save him!"

"!"

"He wished to see you before he left this world, but we mustn't let that happen! So please—"

"Who?" Tsuna had a bad feeling in his gut.

"Yamamoto Takeshi! You're his roommate, right?"

Tsuna widened his eye in shock, "Please take me there."

Why is history repeating itself in a different universe like this?

* * *

_Yamamoto sat on the bed of the river, sighing. He was trying to organise his thoughts about all the incidents befalling him recently._

_It began with that day he was approached by a Vongola man offering him a job in this local pub. The man explained it would involve going to Japan (which was probably why him and Gokudera, having Japanese looks and the language skills, were deemed suitable for the job. The pay was good, and, honestly, he had never been to the country where his parents were born. So, out of personal curiosity, he took up on the offer._

_To his surprise, he would not get his hands dirty this time. All he had to do, said the Vongola chap, was observing and 'disturbing' a certain individual._

_He learned that he had to be careful with two things._

_One was to keep this top secret till the day he was put to rest in a coffin as the target was technically not 'our men.' Vongola promised, though, to take responsibilities to protect him if other goodfella learned about this breach of Omèrta. (Probably why they hire him, an outsider, rather than getting their own hands dirty.)_

_Finally, he must be careful NOT to kill the individual under any circumstances._

_When the Japanese hitman asked "Do you mind if I ask why?," he got "Mind your own business" as a reply. Well, it was expected._

_He was told that he would be working with Gokudera Hayato, a half-Japanese freelance hitman (who happened to be his acquaintance)._

_The guy then took a file out on the table, reiterating "All you need to do is check if he is still alive. That's all."_

_"Tsunayoshi Sawada (Top Secret)" was written on the document. There was a picture of an innocent (and somewhat feminine-looking) bespectacled brunet in apron serving Japanese ramen._

_Yamamoto raised his eyebrows at that. Never before had he been paid so generously just to casually check out (and mildly attack) a citizen all the way abroad, not to mention in a different continent._

_He had his suspicions (but took the job anyway)._

_Then it was confirmed when he was about to launch an attack on the supposedly 'harmless' individual._

_Well, it happened way too fast. Before he knew it, he blacked out and woke up in a cheap wooden apartment room, being interrogated by the supposedly harmless individual, even offered this horribly salty Japanese food called 'Pickled plum,' and forced to work part times and share rooms._

_Even worse, before he managed to get out of this weird situation, his partner Gokudera was converted to Tsuna-ism, he meant got all friendly with the suspicious individual. The guy even adapted tot he citizen life nicely working in a noodle place and construction sites. Helping his target make money._

_Now, left all lone, Yamamoto was clueless what to do. Sawada Tsunayoshi was a mystery and exuded this strange influence on people. Who the hell is he, exactly?_

_He wished he knew more about the Vongola as he was actually part of another much smaller famiglia. Speaking of that, he was quite anxious his master probably already found out what he was up to by now._

_As if intended to interrupt his train of thought, a baseball suddenly appeared in his line of vision. Yamamoto quickly responded by grabbing a random bat lying around (he realised now he was near a mini baseball field) and hitting the ball in reflex._

_With such a power that the ball went flying out of sight._

_Suddenly, a bunch of kids, of elementary school age, gathered around him enthusiastically._

_"Strike!"_

_"Onii-san, so cool!"_

_"Teach me how to do that!"_

_Yamamoto sighed mentally at how annoying this was getting. He had no time. He needed to solve his situation. And all these kids who never knew about the blood and filth out there got in his way. All obstacles must be erased. Be it kids or not._

_But..._

_He needed to calm down_

_'Suppress your emotions' was what he had been told again and again._

_Putting on his usual smiley mask, he laughed, "Ha ha ha, srr'y" to give out a light-hearted impression._

_"Onii-san, you're so good at baseball!"_

_Yamamoto blinked at that, "baseball?" Admitting shyly to himself, he had no idea it was baseball._

_Then he felt a nudge on his back, "Try it!" Some kids led him to the baseball field._

_The kids told him some baseball basics, and, soon, he mastered it in a miracle amount of time. Well, it was much easier than his line of job. The game was pretty much intuitive for Yamamoto._

_At the end of the game, all the kids looked really thrilled about his skills. Yamamoto himself was not impressed at all. In fact, he felt it was a waste of time. He couldn't understand why civilians are so light and carefree. Actually, he felt a sense of envy._

_"Onii-san, is this really your first time?" one crew-cut haired kid asked._

_"Yeah."_

_"You're joking! Your skills are on par with a Yomiuri Giant player!" said another._

_Yamoto didn't what YomiGiant something was but played along, "Dear, I'm flattered! Ha ha!"_

_"Hey, I have an idea," one kid shouted, "What if he could coach us?"_

_Then the other kids got all excited as well, to Yamamoto's confusion._

_"You see, our coach gets hospitalised, so our school is looking for a substitute coach."_

_Yamamoto sweatdropped. He would become like Gokudera. He certainly didn't want to get too involved, so he smiled dryly "Erm... let me think about it."_

_"You will be paid!"_

_"You only work on weekends and Wednesday afternoon!"_

_"It's only for a few months!"_

_"The manager is cute!"_

_Yamamoto unconsciously raised his voice a bit, running out of his patience, "You see, I don't have time."_

_At that, the youngest kid in the group cried._

_Unfortunately for Yamamoto, a police officer was riding a bike on duty around there. Hearing the cry, the guy stopped his bike and approached to question him._

_It took a long time for Yamamoto to convince the officer that he was not suspicious at all. Eventually, he was forced to accept the coach position to make the kid stop crying and testify for him (sigh). Did he just get manipulated by an eight-year-old civilian?_

* * *

_"All you need to do is swinging the bat like VROOM! and BAM! BAM! Easy, isn't it?" the hitman-cum-baseball coach was trying to explain how to score a home run with a saccharine grin. It was still the second day of his new job._

_"EH?" a kid called Nobuta pulled an utterly confused face back to Yamamoto._

* * *

_Day 3_

_"Just VROOM! and BAM BAM!" said the smiley coach again._

_"Come again?" Nobuta scratched his head._

* * *

_Day 4_

_"You simply need to catch it like RAP! and MOP!" said the black-haired coach with a vivid ball catching gesture._

_"Pardon me?" the ten-year-old pitcher called Katou raised his eyebrows._

* * *

_Day 6_

_"Right, everyone. All you need to do is put your efforts in it like BAM BAM. You know, FRIENDSHIP, HARD WORK, VICTORY! Batting the ball like BA-VROOOM, and catching it like CLAP CLAP!"_

_"Ha—h!?" Everyone made the same 'erm' face._

_Then an oldest member and the captain called Takuhiro burst out laughing "Coach Yamamoto, you're an intuitive type, right?"_

_"Your skills are incredible," another kid called Mashiro nodded, "but your coaching sucks."_

_"I mean if you don't explain it clearly. We won't just get it instinctively like you!"_

_At that, Yamamoto mentally cursed the kids but still managed to pull off a laugh "Ha ha ha, sorry. I'm not a qualified coach. So how about you guys get a new one? *sweatdrop*"_

_Just how the heck could he coach so well? He just began this game, technically less experienced than these kids for god's sake!_

_"Don't worry, we like you. So you must keep being our coach," Nobuta smiled (which actually made Yamamoto more depressed over how to get out of this job.)_

_"But this is quite problematic," Katou the pitcher began, "We have an interschool match coming up next week."_

_Yamamoto mentally eye-rolled at that, thinking he couldn't care less, and now the kids were blaming him._

_"Well, doesn't matter. We'll lose anyway," Takuhiro shrugged, but with slightly sad eyes._

* * *

_Day 12_

_In the small local baseball field, a casual match was being held between Nadeyoshi primary (where Yamamoto worked) and Kiyoshi elementary._

_"Ha ha ha. Japanese baseball is sure interesting," said a blond guy who sat beside Yamamoto._

_"Dino-san, you sure enjoy the game for a (mere) English teacher," said coach Yamamoto sarcastically despite his poker smile._

_Dino Carvenello is an English teacher at Yamamoto's primary school. The guy is as well-known for his clumsiness as his good looks. Coincidentally, he was Italian by origin. For some reason, this guy would watch his team practising on regular basis. With those naïve eyes..._

_"Well, you know there is no baseball in Italy, where I came from, right?" said Dino-san, completely oblivious to the sarcasm._

_"Yes, yes," said Yamamoto, thinking 'cuz' that's also where I'm from.'_

_The game began. At first, Yamamoto looked at the event with impassive eyes. He couldn't care less. But, soon, something that he couldn't just dismiss as nonsense happened._

_Sure, as expected, the Kiyoshi team overpowered his weak Nadeyoshi team very easily._

_One round after another, his school score none while the Kiyoshi proceeded to crush them cruelly in succession._

_Then a half-time break came._

_Yamamoto smirked internally. Maybe, it's high time these kids learned about the world's injustice._

_"Listen! We mustn't be daunted by such a strong opponent!" said the captain Takuhiro, "We MUST fight to the very end, and that's the spirit of a sportsman."_

_This surprised Yamamoto._

_"But, but..." said the youngest Nobuta, "we're totally hopeless against them! We were unable to put up any fights at all."_

_At that, everyone went silent. Yamamoto thought this was to be expected. After all, humans gave up upon learning the unfairness of the world. In fact, Yamamoto hoped they would all give up baseball, so he could get himself out of this job situation._

_"EVEN SO," the captain raised his voice, "Even if it's 0.01% chance it's still better than not trying because then our chance of winning would be 0%."_

_"You're right," Mashiro agreed, "I love baseball, and being able to play with everyone is great enough."_

_"That's not enough!" Katou shouted, "We must take pride in our team. We must WIN!"_

_Nobuta finally lit up, "Yeah, we must WIN."_

_"Let's do our magic formation!" said the captain, now moved to tears._

_Everyone stood in circle shouting:_

_"NADEYOSHI! FIGHT!"_

_"OHH~!"_

_The sight of these kids somehow lit up Yamamoto's darkened heart. In the world where light could still reached, in the world that he was not part of, people lived their life faithfully. It's not like they had a carefree life, as he previously assumed. Actually, it seems these people are so pure, so innocent that it was too blinding for Yamamoto. They were fighting for genuinely pure motives unlike people from his world. They don't give up in the face of adversity because they believe in chance and effort. Such a different from the one he lived._

_"Eh?" Before he knew it, a few drops of water fell on his hand, "I'm crying."_

_That was the time when the blond next to him decided to make a comment, "See? I tell you baseball is amazing. These kids, too."_

_"Haha, I guess you're right," Yamamoto wiped his tears, smiling gently._

_"Ah, you finally smile!" exclaimed Dino cheerily._

_"Huh?" Yamamoto was confused as he never failed to put on a perfect smile for other people in his life._

_Dino beamed understandingly, pointing at his chest, "I meant from the bottom of your heart."_

_That day ended with his Nadeyoshi school still scoring nothing. However, both the team and the coach were determined to improve themselves for the next match._

_He started to appreciate what it means to live._

* * *

**"Yamamoto!"**

The black-haired coach heard a voice behind him, so he turned to face his expected guest.

"Hi, there. Sawada Tsunayoshi-sama," he said sarcastically while glancing at the four-storey height below him.

At the sight of his black-haired friend standing behind the frail rooftop fence, Tsuna felt as if he was seeing a deja vu. "Please stop! Why are you doing this... again?"

Yamamoto raised his eyebrows a bit at the word 'again,' but decided to go on, "I feel obliged to bid you a farewell."

"Stop..." said the mafia boss almost voicelessly. For some reason, he felt as if he was in no position to educate Yamamoto.

Ignoring the order, Yamamoto continued, "Thank you... for letting me have this peaceful life. Though short, it was the happiest time in my life. Please take care of Gokudera."

"Stop saying something so sad, Coach Yamamoto!" the blond English teacher stepped into the rooftop after Tsuna.

"Ya, Dino. Thanks for taking Sawada Tsunayoshi here," the hitman only smiled sardonically, "But with all this mess dying is the only option I have."

Yamamoto then fell quite and turned his solemn eyes towards the mysterious brunet instead, "I believe you understand me very well, right."

"!?" Tsuna didn't expect that.

Yamamoto gave his goofy grin, "I did some background research on you, of course. You have one hell of a miserable life, fighting alone against all the unfairness of this world."

"WRONG!" Tsuna was surprised at his own sudden shout.

"To suffer at the hand of mafia for nothing you did. I understand you very well."

Tsuna sighed in relief, it was this world's Tsuna Yamamoto was talking about.

"Even so," Tsuna repeated the exact same phrase he once said to his friend in his world, "isn't it a bit of a waste to die. Would you really have no regret whatsoever in this world? If you're alive you can still fight something with your dying will. To tell you the truth, I don't understand you at all!"

Yamamoto burst out a cynical laugh at that, "Well, shall I tell you how I arrive at this decision first of all?"

* * *

_Yamamoto bought books on baseball techniques and coaching. He would read it till very late at night, sometimes even after Tsuna came back from his unhumanly late serial part time jobs._

_The coach soon got better, which in effect also helped the kids getting better and better at baseball._

_Soon, they were shortlisted for a Kantou prefecture primary school match. Both the kids and Yamamoto (and Dino) were all excited about this development."_

_It was such a bright time for Yamamoto, and he felt he was blessed and saved at the same time by these kids._

_He wished this could go on forever._

**_But fate is never kind._**

* * *

_One day, as Yamamoto tried to put the bats back in the storage, he could feel a very strong presence behind him, "Who's that!"_

_"Enough, Yamamoto Takeshi," said a voice he knew so well._

_Yamamoto froze at that. He didn't have to turn to know who it was._

_A few steps heard. The man was approaching Yamamoto, "Now, now. You know what will happen when you suddenly disappear, right. It's called a betrayal."_

_Yamamoto had nothing to retort and decided to face the man, "I'm sorry." The Asian hitman immediately kneeled for forgiveness, "Please forgive me, godfather."_

_Before him, were the disappointed eyes of a respectable Italian man in his sixties. The man who picked the three-year-old him up from the pool of blood when his entire family was massacred so their sword style would cease to other words, his life saviour._

_"I was quite surprised too," began the Italian, "when I learned that my most trustworthy subordinate decided to do such a stupid thing like agreeing to violate the Omèrta for Vongola. Don't you think you are a shame to our family!"_

_"I'm sorry. I was threatened by the Vongola..." the black-haired man tried to explain, thinking 'Damn you, Vongola. Protecting me, my ass! You just saw me as a disposable pawn to harass Sawada Tsunayoshi.'_

_"Enough!" his godfather roared, "I already knew you were plotting something behind our backs."_

_At that, Yamamoto's face turned grim for a moment. Then his attitude made a 360-degree flipped. He started laughing like a madman, "HA hahahahahahahhahaHA hahahahahahahhaha"_

_"YES! I learned it was YOU who killed my whole family. You devious old man!" Yamamoto declared with the most emotional face he ever made in his life._

_In contrast to this outburst, the older man responded with dissonant serenity, pulling out his gun quietly, "I don't want to kill such a useful prawn like you, but I guess bad blood runs deep."_

_"What are you—"_

_"When I was a kid," the old man suddenly said, "my father was killed by that sword style, Shigure Shoen Ryu."_

_"Don't change the topic," Yamamoto barked furiously, a bit surprised at his own rage._

_"Yes, it was the young Tsuyoshi, your father, the only successor of the sword style."_

_"If it's just that, I already—"_

_The old man suddenly glided to behind the storage's corner, dragging out, to Yamamoto's horror, the shaking Nobuta and Katou._

_"Now, now, young man," said the old man with the merciless icy eyes, "it's very impolite to overhear someone's conversation."_

_Yamamoto froze at that, "Stop! These kids have nothing to do with it!"_

_"Let me reeducate you what kind of world we are living in," said the old man cooly._

_"But you can't kill civilians."_

_"Not if they know our identity."_

_The guy then aimed his gun at the shaking Nobuta. "H-Help, Coach," said the kid weakly, shuddering in fear._

_"No!" Katou cried._

_The old man somehow started to enjoy this, smirking a bit, "Yamamoto, how about this? If you let these kids be killed, I will take that as unwavering allegiance to my family. I will ignore everything you had wronged."_

_Yamamoto angrily retorted, "As if I will—"_

_"You know what happens when you anger the mafia, right? It won't just sit well with just your death. You might not have any blood relatives, but you do have friends, don't you?"_

_An image of the snappy Yamamoto screaming at the laughing him flashed in his mind, making Yamamoto pause un his resistance._

_Then what followed unravelled in slow motion. A bang sound was heard with a splash of blood and falling Nobuta. Thud sound. Katou's scream. And his own overflowing tears. Another thud. Katou passed out on the ground as well._

_"See. You can do it. Now kill the other kid," said the Italian godfather who now handed him the gun._

_Absent-mindedly, Yamamoto took up the gun like a robot._

_Exactly as what had been drilled into his brain all his life._

_'Obey orders.'_

_'Aim well.'_

_'Annihilate the target.'_

_'Never disappoint the godfather.'_

_The mafia is everywhere._

_The mafia knows everything._

_The mafia has everything._

_The mafia ruins everything._

_The mafia rules over everything._

_Even the local authorities are just pawns to mafia._

_You can't betray the mafia._

_You can't run from the mafia._

_You can't anger the mafia._

_Realise how powerless you are against the mafia!_

_"Coach!" a child voice–Katou's– in his memory suddenly broke his train of fear._

_With that, Yamamoto made a decision._

**_Bang!_**

_Yamamoto pulled his trigger._

_But the target was not Katou._

_"Yamamoto. You—" said the Italian man before losing his breath._

_"Serve you right. You evil old dog," Yamamoto spat with uncharacteristic disdain._

_As his eyes fell on the bloody mess of his trainee. Yamamoto rushed to check the bullet wound and froze when he realised it went right through the heart are. As he checked the lifeless pulse, Yamamoto could not help but burst into tears like a child._

* * *

"I was such a coward," Yamamoto laughed ironically to himself, "if I was braver, acting fast enough, maybe I could have prevented Nobuta's death."

The black-haired hitman gazed briefly at the speechless brunet and decided to say more, "I guess in the end I was so terrified of the mafia. In fact, I admire you, for trying to fight against all the hostilities from them."

Tsuna finally found his own voice and decided to retort, "But his life should not be paid back by your death!"

Yamamoto sighed, "Yeah, but that didn't change the fact that I was so powerless against the mafia. Against fate. Against this world itself!"

"But you might be able to change if you try it with your dying will!"

Suddenly, Yamamoto said something that shocked Tsuna, "Are you really Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

"Eh?"

Yamamoto glared at the brunet, "The Sawada Tsunayoshi I learn about would definitely understand what I'm on about. Not spilling naïve ideals like you!"

Tsuna sweat-dropped. Think! What should he do? Tell Yamamoto everything or what.

But the priority remains dissuading him from suicide!

"But don't you think just escaping from life is also cowardly!"

"!"

"Yes, fate sometimes is a bitch. And you're powerless against fate, but that shouldn't stop you from fighting and living on."

Yamamoto Takeshi was clearly stunned at Tsuna's words, stopping short in his tracks with widened eyes.

The brunet said so and approached the rusty fence, extending his hand to the baseballer, smiling gently "Let's live for Nobuta-kun's sake as well. He won't be happy if his coach is a coward who escaped from 'life.'

Yamamoto broke into a round of sobbing, mumbling shyly "Yeah, I guess you're right," taking Tsuna's hand and climbing back onto the rooftop next to Tsuna.

"Phew!" Dino in the background wiped some non-existent sweat on his forehead with a relieved smile.

* * *

That night Tsuna walked Yamamoto back to the flat. Finding a fuming Gokudera nagging about about 'Inconveniencing Tenth' and so on, Yamamoto bursted out laughing. Tsuna couldn't help but laugh at the two's antics.

* * *

Maybe it's because he had aged, but despite what Tsuna had said to Yamamoto in the past and today, he felt an unsettling sense when Yamamoto said "You certainly understand me."

'I don't really understand why someone would want to die,' Tsuna thought to himself, 'Even thought I was a dame-Tsuna who failed everything back then, I still had something I appreciated in this world, like Kyoko-chan, mum and stuff.'

'He said it's because of his 'powerlessness' against this world, but nothing can't be achieved with a real dying will,' Tsuna thus convinced himself and fell as sleep.

* * *

_It was a moonless winter night at the most anti-social hour. It was deafeningly silent. It's almost everyone in the town was probably deep in slumber._

_Except a certain boy with shockingly lifeless eyes like a dead fish for an eight-year-old._

_The boy sneaked quietly into the small local shrine._

_It was so eerily dark and quiet that any child that age would normally ran back home to the warmth of their mothers._

_But that certain boy was not deterred by the unsettling atmosphere at all. He moved on mechanically , dragging his jumping rope along._

_Well, after all, it was impossible for him to seek 'the warmth of his mother' as things stood now._

_The boy dragged his barefoot covered with dirt unconcernedly on and on. At last, he stopped at the big leafless sakura tree._

_At the age of eight, the child may not know exactly what he was going to do then._

_He saw the adult do it to 'relieve themselves from pain' and 'escape problems' on TV. So he thought it was a good idea._

_After all, it was so painful for him recently. So painful that he wanted to simply disappear from this world._

_The boy took a ladder, stolen from the storage space at the back of the shire and with tiny hands trued to tie his jumping rope on the thickest brach of the tree, and—_

* * *

Tsuna sprang up from his futon sweating profusely in horror, thinking "What the heck was that? A dream?"

Sighing, he decided all the suicide stuff made his imagination going crazy. Thinking he needed some breather, Tsuna took his jumper and stepped out to the veranda.

"HAHHHH" Tsuna sighed dramatically, getting a girlish shriek from his left as a result.

Tsuna was quite surprised to hear someone at such a late hour. As he turned, the voice owner was no one but the ginger-head Sasagawa Kyoko.

* * *

**To be continued...**

Author's notes: Phew... This chapter was probably the hardest to write so far. My poor writing skills and second-language English probably shone through here, lol. It's also the longest in this fic, probably twice as long as normal ones. Hope it was too much of a mind rape (tho that's my intention hu hu :3). I decide t change the genre 'drama' to 'psychological.' As for comedy, I made sure to include some conflict relief,but I guess it is not the main focus, so I'm gonna change it to 'mystery.' What do you guys think?

I hope I don't turn many readers/followers against me with this chapter :(. But this had been planned in advance and I love it :D!

Again, please review. I like to hear from you guys.

And, Happy Valentines to you all 3


	13. Chapter 12

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

****Author's note: **Flashback or dream will be written in_ Italics_ to avoid confusion.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**The mafia boss skips his work  
**

Tsuna tried to rest his mind by stepping out to the veranda with a long sigh, "Haaa—h"

He the. heard a sweet female voice from his left "Sawada-kun?"

Tsuna turned to the left only to see it was his neighbour, "Kyoko... —Sasagawa-san?"

His neighbour then giggled, "You look just like an old man."

'Crap! I let my guard down thinking it's early morning and all' the mafia boss blushed.

"Why are you up?" Kyoko flashed her usual sunny smile, but its forcedness didn't escape Tsuna's intuition.

Out if consideration, Tsuna decided to keep quiet about that and smile back, "Just need a breather."

Kyoko then said, "Ah, good timing. I had no opportunity to apologise you for quitting suddenly. Although I know you already have a lot of jobs..."

"It's fine, really!" Tsuna shook his head, then asking out of awkwardness "but why do you quit? If you don't mind me asking..."

Kyoko's face darkened visibly at that, "my mother just died, so I couldn't afford to attend college here anymore. I need to help my family's business in my hometown."

'By hometown, does she mean she was not born in Tokyo,' Tsuna pondered, 'Ryohei said he was from Namimori. So is his sister, Kyoko, yeah..."

Then an enlightenment finally dawned upon him, 'Wait! How stupid was I to overlook this: Ryohei said he KNEW this world's Tsuna in primary school. The only clue to his history! Why didn't I pay attention to him!?'

Upon this idea, Tsuna promptly asked, "Your hometown is Namimori, right? Did you attend Namimori Primary by any chance?"

Oddly, Kyoko did not seem surprised at the question. With a face as if she had been waiting for that question for ages, she replied calmly, "Yes."

Tsuna gulped, continuing, "Did you also know me, Sawada Tsunayoshi, at that time as well."

Kyoko nodded quietly. With a strange sense of nostalgia.

Tsuna sweatdropped at how inconsiderate he must have looked acting as if he was just her neighbour all this time, "I-I'm sorry that I didn't recognise you all this time. I...erm... have an amnesia, forgetting my early childhood and stuff, you know..." What a lame pretense.

It was then that Kyoko widened her eyes in surprise, "Is that so? Oh, I see..." with an understanding smile.

Tsuna decided to extract as much information as possible, "D-do you mind telling me more about myself. As it might help me with me memory, ha ha." Gosh, this is awkward!

Kyoko smiled apologetically, "Sorry, but I need to leave early today. In three hours, actually."

At that, Tsuna felt an urge to scratch his head scrap and wreck a patch of his hair in frustration. After all his time finally managed to get some important clues, so what now!?

In desperation, he spurt a ridiculous proposal, "Can I tag along?"

* * *

'The Nozomi Shigansrn line leaving for Namimori is now departing...'

So here was Tsuna on a bullet train sitting with his former crush, though in a different universe. They are both in mourning black.

"Really, I was surprised that you suddenly decided to accompany me to the funeral. You don't even have memories about living there, do you?" Kyoko said.

"Ha ha," laughed Tsuna awkwardly, "I have a feeling I know you parents quite well..."

At that, Kyoko suddenly sprang up in excitement, "You start to remember! That's right we're next-door neighbours!"

"Ha ha," Tsuna mentally cheered like someone who won $1m lottery. That was just a random explanation!

"Aww, that brings back memories. We plaued all the time. Onii-chan and I were like older siblings to you."

During the journey, Tsuna learned that this world's Kyoko was very talkative. Thanks to his, he learned a lot more about this world's him in Namimori years.

"At school, your grades and athletic abilities were pretty, well, below average. You always got bullied, so Onii-chan had to intervene. You were know as dame-Tsuna then."

"Wait?" Tsuna interrupted, "I thought he- I mean- I was an honour student."

Kyoko raised her eyebrows confusedly at what she thought was self-glorification, "Not at all?"

Kyoko then proceeded with a cough, "Ahem! There were only you and your mother living in the house next to us. Apparently, I think your dad worked overseas or something. Mrs Sawada's cooking was really good. We got invited to her dinner from time to time."

Tsuna then asked, "Is my family pretty much a normal household, then."

"Yeah," Kyoko's voice became more serious, "until one day."

"What happened?" Tsuna urged her on.

"I don't really know," Kyoko looked pensive, "I was very young then."

But Tsuna insisted, "Please."

"Hmm... Well, I did remember you suddenly disappearing for a few months and coming back again."

"Eh?"

"After that, your house had a fire accident. So you and your mum left the town. We don't know how you guys got on with life ever since."

Tsuna frowned at the strange information he just received. Well, he was aware of this so-called 'fire accident,' but what about the 'disappearing and come back' bit. It did sound like what Shoichi said of what happened to this world him before they swapped places...

"But, I guess I do know a bit about how you were afterwards."

Tsuna's ears perked at that.

"It was on this school trip to Tokyo we had in middle school. We were shopping in Asakusa. Then I ran into you."

"What a small world!" Tsuna couldn't help but add some proverbial wisdom.

"Um... I almost couldn't recognise you. In fact, it might have been someone else. I think. I greeted you. But the person I thought was you looked at me coldly, saying 'No, I don't recognise you at all,' and walked away."

'That must have been him,' Tsuna thought with a sweatdrop, judging from Irie's account of this world's him.

"Anyway, even when fate made us neighbours again, you still denied knowing me. Even worse, you didn't remember my name! until recently..." Kyoko shook her head disapprovingly.

"Well~ I have memory problem, you know, ha ha," Tsuna made a lame attempt to defend this world's himself, mentally rebuking his parallel self for being such a jerk.

* * *

_Tsuna woke up in darkness. He felt like falling deep into the pit of the ocean._

_Strangely, as he fell deeper and deeper, he saw a speck of light at the very bottom getting bigger and bigger._

_When he got to the lighted part, it was not all that bright. Before he realised, he found himself before the bars running infinitely in his mindscape._

_Behind the bars was a silhouette._

_As Tsuna approached the cage for a better view at the silhouette..._

* * *

_Tsuna woke up._ This time, for real, next to Sasagawa Kyoko, on a train to Namimori.

Tsuna realised he just dozed off. Well, he hadn't had much sleep after all. Kyoko, who was clearly sleep deprived, was sound asleep on his left.

'We're approaching Namimori. Please get off for...line ...et c.'

Hearing that, he decided it was time to _wake Kyoko up._

* * *

At this point, he completely forgot the details of his strange dream.

"I'm glad you came here to the extreme!" shouted Ryohei, dressed in mourning suit, in a loud, though noticeably more subdued than usual.

"Well, I think I owed you people a lot in the past," Tsuna spoke smoothly bowing with a stern expression, a formality he learned from years of boss training, "I am terribly sorry to hear about auntie's premature passing."

"Dear, dear, you don't have to be that formal," Mr Sasagawa, Kyoko's and Ryohei's father, muttered gentle thanks to the polite boy, "I haven't seen you ever since then. What a big boy you have become!"

"Thank you. But, by the way," Tsuna suddenly changed the topic, "do you mind showing me my old place after this?"

At that question, confusion crept up the father and son's faces, both looking at each other awkwardly.

* * *

To Tsuna, it was no wonder why his former next-door neighbours were shocked at his request. According to his information, his house had a 'fire accident.'

Well, what Tsuna didn't expect was the extent of the fire damage.

In front of him was empty plot, littered with burnt debris and unrecognisable structure. It was a miracle that its inhabitants had survived.

Tsuna proceeded to step over the 'don't enter' sign to gather more evidence to prove if his hypothesis was right...

Suddenly, Tsuna felt a presence, so he reflexively dodge an oncoming attempted strike at his stomach.

_Clank!_

It was a sound of batons.

**"Hnn..."**

_'Don't tell me'_ Tsuna wanted to sweatdrop as he turned to see his assailant.

* * *

**To be continued...**

_Sorry, if this chapter is a bit boring and too short. I'm in a bit of a writer's bloc and this world's Tsuna past needs a bit more elaboration. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!_


	14. Chapter 13

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

****Author's note: **Flashback or dream will be written in_ Italics_ to avoid confusion.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**The Cloud Guardian is a cop?  
**

"Hibari-san, is it?" Tsuna flashed a tired smile at his problematic gurdian... Wait?... ver. ... police!?

The scary, dodgy, delinquent, shadily underground Hibari Kyoya is now in Japan's standard police box uniform, navy blue with police hat and a police baton. Let me repeat, a proper police baton.

Tsuna had to fight the temptation to burst out in laughing his ass off. Had he not wanted to engage in a fight with the warlike guy, he would have done that.

"What are you doing in Namimori's prohibited area," Cop! Hibari said in cool tone as usual.

Checking that his was face poker-stoic (thank god he had a don training from a spartan!), the brunet intruder "I'm revisiting my former address, that's all."

At that, Cop! Hibari widened his eye, ever so slightly, "Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna thought a bit, then concluding it would be best to... "Yes, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, but you can say that I'm not the Sawada Tsunayoshi you know."

Hibari let a somewhat irritated 'hnn' at the ambiguity of explanation, which made the mafiaso sweatdrop a bit.

Luckily, the aloof Hibari-san was not interested, thus asking no further questions. Though even of it was Hibari-san, this is a bit...

"Whatever," said the policeman, "but it's dangerous to stand there, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Laughing dryly, the brunet decided the debris was not worth investigating either so he crossed out of the 'no entry - no entry - no entry' patch of land.

* * *

For some reason, half an hour later, Tsuna found himself in a majestic traditional Japanese mansion with the sign "Hibari" on the wooden gate.

Yeah, he was now sitting (with back pain and cramps) in a seiza position wearing a sunset-coloured yukata while trying to appreciate a bitter cup of green tea with a certain pompadour-haired guy.

"Is the tea to your taste?" Hibari's right-hand (this world and that world's), Tatsuya, asked well-mannerly. He mist have been used to this!

"Yes, I really appreciate it. I like the sublime fragrance and deep aftertaste, almost like early spring personified," the mafia boss managed to smile spotlessly while mentally cursing how he don't get why his country people have this tradition of torturing themselves with concentrated bitter tea.

In fact, he hate the leafy acrid smell that taste like concentrated chlorophyl. The weird aftertaste that would probably decrease his appetite for dinner. It was like hell incarnate.

"That's good to hear," Tatsuya Kusakabe probably said genuinely, but to the brunet it sounds like a sarcasm.

But with no further ado, the former disciplinary member got down to the business, "By the way, why are you back to Namimori, Sawada-sama?"

Tsuna paused a bit to reflect on how much he should let on. "Erm, you see," he decided to lie, "I got this amnesia, so I was hoping if coming back to my hometown would help my condition."

Tatsuya calmly sipped on that bitter tea (to Tsuna's awe), "I see. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Ah, Thank you for your concerns."

"No, no, we're really sorry that you have to experience so much trouble in the past," the pompadour guy suddenly apologised, which confused the mafia boss.

Expecting confusion of an amnesiac, Tatsuya explained, "The greatest regret in Kyoya-san's life is probably not being able to protect the well-being of two of Namimori's citizens — The Sawadas."

"And," Tsuna put down the cup, "Why should you regret about what happened to me?"

Even Tsuna was surprised at his own sudden question.

Kusakabe fell silent for a minute or two, probably thinking where he should begin, before saying, "You see the Hibari family has been the protector and law enforcer of Namimori for centuries..."

* * *

_His name is Hibari Kyoya. Yes, he's a Hibari. He is expected to be an important presence in Namimori, his town, in the future._

_As far as he could remember, everyone would always emphasise his family duty to become strong and grow up to serve Namimori and make it a safe place to live._

_"Kyoya," he remembered his father once saying, "our family has started as a vigilante protecting Namimori village since the Sengogu era from evil warlords and invaders. That's why Namimori became such a big and peaceful town we know right now. So I wish you could do the same."_

_Everyone in his family would serve as a defender of Namimori's interests in some way. His father was the Chief of the police bureau of the Namimori prefecture. His mother was part of the board overseeing the police force and law enforcement all over Namimori. His uncle, a righteous mayor of Namimori. And his cousin, a rising star in he Namimori police force._

_Therefore, as soon as he began school, he became the youngest chairman of the disciplinary committee in no time. Whether it was Namimori elementary, Middle or High. By the way, it was in the middle school when Kyoya tutned the delinquent Kusakabe into a loyal right hand._

_Anyway, despite his dedication and excellent fighting skills, as expected from a Hibari's training, there would still be one blot on his record in protecting Namimori. And that was the tragedy of the Sawadas. That was before he met Kusakabe. It was when Sawada was eight, in third year, and he was ten, in fifth year._

_To be honest, Hibari, who's two years older than Sawada Tsunayoshi, was not very impressed with the underclassman's conduct._

_Due to his dullness and laziness, the brunet did not fit in well, getting bullied often, which resulted in many incidents of class skipping and 'man's flu.'_

_There is this one time when the junior even got self-destructive and had to take a leave from school for months._

_Overall, these certainly did not sit well with the law-abiding Hibari._

_Yet, aside from that, Sawada was generally a normal boy who deserved the Hibari's protection as a citizen. The same applied to Sawada Nana. In fact, for a single-parent family like the Sawadas, as a Hibari, he felt quite committed to make their life in this town easier. Moreover, after that objectionably long absence from school, Sawada Tsunayoshi became a changed man. Trying hard at his studies and making friends. The brunet appeared to enjoy Namimori Elementary more and more in Hibari's eye, and he was pleased to know that._

_But before he knew it, the intruders arrived to destroy the life of the Sawadas._

_As he was on his patrolling duty in Nami Elementary as usual, he noticed a couple of suspicious man dressed in suits flocking around behind the school fence. Hibari thought of chasing them away, but at the age of ten, he could tell by experience that the men were veteran fighters whom he would lose against at his current level. So he decided to investigate into the matter further._

_Then he noticed that the brunet— Sawada Tsunayoshi was also there putting away the rubbish._

_As the spiky-haired moved, the men also quietly followed suit. Hibari decided to follow them along to see this through._

_It seemed that after Sawada Tsunayoshi finished his cleaning duty, he packed up his rucksack and headed back home as usual. But the men quietly followed him, without the young boy noticing at all._

_Almost as soon as the brunet entered his house, he rushed out again, but a smaller bag-pack. The men stopped following and hid beside the house._

_At this point, Kyoya decided it was wise to call his father for a hand, but as he tried to reach for his cell in his bag and probably due to the narrowness of where he was hiding, the Hibari Kyoya made a mistake of dropping it and making a sound._

_The suspicious people immediately picked this up and caught him hiding red-handed._

_Hibari Kyoya, then powerless as a ten-year-boy against professional hitmen, soon found himself tied to the tree nearby. His mouth, his hands, his legs and everything were tied so tightly that he felt like a handicap. From his training, he knew right away that this would take a very ling time, not to mention a boy like him, to break free._

_Glancing at his crushed cell on the ground, even he started to feel anxious. Anyway, he had to try to calm down for now and recall what his parents had crammed into his brain. First, how to untie the ropes—_

_But before Hibari was calm enough to do that, the men get into action. One of the guy rolled out a gallon of petrol oil, opening the cap and throw it onto the yard (probably landing onto the wooden veranda). Hibari knew immediately what they were gonna do._

_So he decided to give a better go at unraveling himself. He tried about five knots he knew about, and finally, to his relief, he felt the discomfort on his leg loosening._

_As Kyoka was concentrated on freeing his last limb, he heard a sound of explosion._

_He reflectively turned to the Sawada household, only to see it ablaze in flames. Like a vision of hell he would never dream of happening in the peaceful Namimori he knew._

_Hibari finally succeeded in freeing himself, but he could no longer contain his frustration. Maybe he was still naive then, so he rashly decided to chase after the arsonists instead of making it a priority to stop the fire._

_He ran after their silhouettes. But they were really fast. Even with Hibari's skills, after twenty minutes or so, he lost sight of them._

_It was then that Hibari regained his calm a but and realised he made a mistake._

_He should have asked to use the neighbours' phone and let the firefighters know first before chasing the culprits!_

_Grinding his teeth in irritation at his own inexperience, he reached for a public phone and called the fire department, then his father._

_However, it was too late. By the time everyone—himself, the firefighters and the Sawada mother and child— got to the scene. The house was burned down to nothingness._

_After that, the Sawada understandably moved far, far away from Namimori, the town supposed to be the most peaceful and safe under the Hibari's protection. Therefore, Hibari Kyoya always blamed his own carelessness for making the Sawada suffer so much that they decided Namimori was no longer a place to be._

* * *

"So please forgive Kyoka-san's and the Hibari for not fulfilling their duty in guaranteeing your safety properly," Kusakabe said making a dogeza with his forehead on the tatami floor.

"Please raise your head," said the brunet, "I think Sawada-kun, I mean the me when I still had my memories, would never blame you guys at all."

"In fact," Tsuna said, feeling a lump in his throat, "We were more to blame for bringing disturbance to this town. I'm sorry!"

Oddly enough, the mafia boss felt the sense of guilt overwhelming jn his heart, even though...

"For you who did not even remember, I am touched," Kusakabe said with tears trickling from his eyes.

Erm, seeing a delinquent-looking guy crying is soooo awkward.

Or so Tsuna thought.

"Well, thank you for telling me a bit about myself," Tsuna smiled nonetheless.

* * *

The brunet soon made his way to leave the mansion's gate when Kusakabe called him one last time.

"Sawada-sama!"

"Yes?"

"I hope you regain your memories soon," the pompadour man said in heartfelt feeling.

"Yea... I hope so."

"Anyway," Kusakabe beamed, "even Kyoya-san understands that you're Sawada Tsunayoshi, despite not knowing about your amnesia at all! So I think you're already there! So please don't worry! Farewell!"

"Thank you," Tsuna bowed politely before leaving the gate.

* * *

Contrary to Kusakabe's intention, His words actually worried Tsuna even more. He didn't exactly know why, but...

He was suddenly tsukomi-ed on the head.

"You mafia boss idiot!" said the person who hit him from behind.

"Erm, Irie Shoichi?" Tsuna knew immediately from the voice, "wait? How the heck are you here?"

"Isn't that my question!" the auburn-haired college student screamed like an angry housewife, "WHY THE HECK are you here. Not going to your freakin' part-times when we're so DEBT-ridden!"

Oh, debt, this word started to have as much impact as paperwork, so so the mafia boss from another world thought depressedly.

"How could you know I'm here,"

said Tsuna patting away the pain on his head.

"Because I intended to visit you at the bookstore, then I learned from the manager that you were skipping."

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry."

"Do you know that affect your and MY friend's money flow."

"Yes, I deeply apologise for his inconvenience."

"And how could you get on a bullet train? Do you realise how much it cost!?"

"Yes, yes, sorry. ... Oh my Darwin! I COMPLETELY FORGOT about that!"

"Geez, even I ran out of my allowance paying for the fare having to drag you back coming all the way here."

"Sorry."

"Yeah, so how much do you have right now?"

Tsuna checked out his wallet, only to find, "500 yen..."

"Gosh, you're so...!," Irie sighed, "Anyway, let's find a short-term part-time to work and collect enough money to fund or way back... Hmm? Tsuna?"

Suddenly, the brunet was no longer on his right.

"Hey, dude! Don't leave me flipping the whole world finding you all over again!" The glass-cladded young man sighed.

* * *

As Irie Shoichi was lecturing him sharply, Tsuna's attention couldn't help but drift to the place they walked past. It was a run-down small shrine that just stood up there forgotten.

"Geez, even I ran out of my allowance paying for the fare having to drag you back coming all the way here," the red hair ranted.

Still stuck with the weird sensation about the shrine, Tsuna decided to just say 'sorry' randomly to Irie's rant for now.

He felt oddly compelled to enter the place. As if the shrine god wanted to tell him something. Well, telling Irie something like that would only result in a mocking laugh and lecturing from the red-haired fellow, so Tsuna decided to only quickly pop into the place while Irie was still engaged in lecturing him. Good luck lecturing the air for now, dude!

As Tsuna set his feet inside, and walked and walked and then walked. He froze stiff on his track.

What do you expect. He found an uncannily familiar _sakura tree_.

* * *

**-To be continued...**

_Author's notes: Sorry for the late updates. I was having this writer's bloc and A-LEVELS coming up and all. Nah, whatever, for some reason I felt like writing this today so i did. Hope you enjoy it._


	15. Chapter 14

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**The mafia boss got a fanboy colleague  
**

Sasagawa Sports is the biggest shop for sports equipment in Namimori. It was started by Sasagawa Ryota, whose wife just passed away. It's now run by Sasagawa Ryohei who is serving as the manager. Boxing fans would knew of him as the up-and-coming star, who recently made a shocking retirement to pursue the family business.

But to others,

"an air-headed shop manager."

To which his spiky-haired colleague said,

"Shhh, Shoichi, you don't wanna get fired, okay? We needed to quickly earn to go back to Tokyo, it's just for two days. Just bear with it!"

"And whose fault is that?" the guy called Shoichi retorted.

"Yes, yes, it's _me_, Sawada Tsunayoshi, 's fault."

* * *

Two hours earlier, Kyoko brought them to the shop an hour before the opening, where they met her brother Ryohei.

Tsuna noticed another person's presence. And to his his surprise it was no other people than...

"Oh, Fuuta! Another extreme morning, yeah?"

Fuuta stood up from the chair round the counter. Tsuna could now see that this world's Fuuta is older, a young adult, looking just like the Fuuta he knew right now, but in the shop's uniform.

"Yes, Sasagawa-san! I have heard the legendary 'Dame-Tsuna'-sama is going work with me, and I couldn't sleep all night from excitement! So, I came early, he he."

Tsuna twitched his eye. Did he just hear the word 'dame' and 'sama' in the same sentence?

"You're right! You've got the extreme panda eyes!"

"So where is the (in)famous Dame-Tsuna-san?" Tsuna could swear he saw the boy's puppy eyes sparkling.

Ryohei suddenly slapped his back in his usual 'extreme' fashion, making Tsuna unintentionally cough, "This extreme gentleman here!"

As Tsuna tried to regain his balance from Ryohei's extreme 'skinship,' his hands were taken by Fuuta, who now gazed at him with — pardon me— a fanboy's eyes.

"What an honour! I have always wanted to meet you, Sawada-senpai," the light brown-haired boy started rambling excitedly, "when I went to Namimori elementary, everyone was talking about you."

"Really," Tsuna said, "erm... I'm flattered to be famous?"

"Yes! Your dame feats, clumsiness and ultimate uselessness to society during your studentship there ranked the first on the record, not beaten by any other students up to the present!"

"..."

Should he be happy about this?

"That's why you're awesome, Sawada-senpai!— No, can I call you Tsuna-nii? Please! Please! Pleaseee!"

In what way is that awesome?

God bless Irie for doing something about the awkwardness with "Wait a minute! How dare do you insult my friend!"

But Tsuna could feel that Shoichi was serious and actually quite angry as he really cared about his friend.

Fuuta was clearly confused, "Eh? But Tsuna-nii is known as Dame-Tsuna, and..."

"I don't care what people here talk about him!" Shoichi raised his voice, "But you don't know a single thing about him! You don't know how hard-working he was, having to support himself and his only mum!"

"What?"

"Is that true to the extreme, Sawada? I demand you to explain as an extreme manager's order!"

'Urgh, this is gonna be a pain to explain,' Tsuna rolled his eyes mentally.

* * *

After explaining his, well, this world's him's situation to Ryohei and Fuuta, the room was filled with an awkward silence.

Tsuna sighed with relief that may be this would make Fuuta less... keen... so they could just get down to work, earn enough money and go home.

But Tsuna's plan backfired because...

"As I thought, you're amazing, Tsuna-nii! No, even more amazing than I ever imagined!"

He became even more keen!

Somehow the actions of Fuuta overlapped with a certain silver-haired freeloader at his place.

(In a certain small flat room, a certain half-Japanese young man sneezed.)

"I'm not that great a person, actually," Tsuna fought the urge to actually roll his eyes, and with a meh face he made a short self-introduction, "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. A poor, debt-ridden drop-out, picking petty part-times here and there."

"Hey, you!" Irie snarled at the mafia boss, "DO NOT INSULT my friend, I said!"

"What? I simply stated a FACT," Tsuna said with a straight face, though mentally enjoying how he managed to annoy the normally cool Irie Shoichi.

"Why don't you put it more nicely—"

For some reason, Tsuna saw Shoichi overlap with a certain silver-haired flatmate as well... (The very same man sneezed again, now complaining if he had caught a cold to his other black-haired flatmate.)

"Err," Fuuta tilted his head confusedly, "Excuse me, but isn't Tsuna-nii just being self-deprecating here?"

And so did Ryohei, "You're un-understandable to the extreme, Shoichi!"

Realising he is spilling too many beans, the red head snorted, "Never mind. And it's incomprehensible! There is no such word as un-understandble! Also, since when do we get to first name basis?"

Did Shoichi just correct his boss?

Blatantly ignoring the pedantic Shoichi's corrections, the crewcut man (thank god) smiled brightly, "Why don't you make an extreme introduction too? Manager's order to the extreme!"

Sighing and trying to remind himself that this man is, after all, his manager for now, Irie Shoichi assumed his calm manner again, "My name is Irie Shoichi. Second year, engineering at Hoshino University. Nice to meet you."

"Eh? You're from that famous Hoshino university! I know it! I know it!" Fuuta was clearly impressed, "It always ranked second to Todai, especially in medicine, right?"

Tsuna raised his eyebrows at that. He knew that this world's him was pretty awesome, but not THAT awesome. Incredible considering it's an alternate version of him.

"This is the best day in my life!" Fuuta screamed exuberantly, staring at the ceiling dreamily, before feeling stares at him, "Ah, pardon me, I could get too excited when it comes to ranking and league tables. My name is Fuuta de Stellar. Of course, that's not my real name. I won't tell you, hu hu."

Of course, neither Tsuna nor Shoichi was interested.

Seeing the indifference, Fuuta sighed disappointedly, "Ah, so you don't wanna know. Just call me Fuuta. Actually, that's my real name. My nickname is Fuuta, the star prince or the ranking prince."

At this point, the red-haired part-timer facepalmed, "Sorry, but could you make your introduction short, considering his the first time we meet?"

"Oh, you're right. I'm first year doing Astronomy at Namimori university. We're not top ten on BRUP table like yours, but we're ranked #_ _, quite a cute number is it?"

"Keep it short, please."

"Ok, my hobby is star-gazing, and keeping tracks of ranking. I'm the president of star-gazing club at our uni. I also like this fortune-telling thing. Sounds hippy, yeah? But it's like I feel this spiritual connection with the stars, and, you know, my mum said I should do Astrology instead of Astronomy, but they don't teach it. Actually, statistics is the subject ranks the first as 'What Fuuta wanted to study the most,' but basing on my maths score, Astronomy ranks the first in 'What Fuuta could feasible study in real world circumstances,' so—"

Tsuna also decided to prevent this from going on all day "OK, IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU, so could we get down to work now, MR. Colleague?"

* * *

"That guy is quite a handful!" Shoichi said to Tsuna on low voice as they put down the cardboard packages near the counter.

"You mean Fuuta," Tsuna asked, chuckling, "Well, yeah, he is even more severe in this world than in my world..."

"Wait, do you know him?" his brick-haired friend enquired, checking the list to see that they got every items and signed the form for the delivery man.

"Hey, by the way, you also know that Gokudera and Yamamoto guys in your world, right? Not to mention, Byakuran-senpai, that Mukuro creep and this stupid manager of ours."

"Yeah," the mafia boss saw what Irie noticed, as he also noticed it too, "So many coincidences for someone from another universe, right?"

Tsuna handed the geeky boy a pair of scissors to help him cut the package boxes open. So he was slightly surprised that the red-haired college student pointed the scissors at him.

"Look," Shoichi said in a serious tone, "I determined you as harmless to my friend for now, but that doesn't mean I completely trust you."

For some reason, Tsuna found it hurt to see a suspicious face of Irie Shoichi. Well, not that his reaction is not unexpected, so he laughed it off, "I know, but I really want to return to my world and save your friend too. Aren't we in the same boat?"

Shoichi sighed, put down the scissors and started cutting the boxes open, "Then, care to tell me what you were doing in that shrine there yesterday?"

"Well," Tsuna looked down, ripping my the seal from the package, "I wonder what."

Tsuna couldn't understand himself either. It was when he heard Shoichi calling put to him that he came to. Before he knew it, he found himself in a small, dilapidated shrine before the oddly familiar tree. Like his feet dragged him there... That's almost like...

Irie Shoichi huffed, "You keep too many secrets."

"Does that bother you?" the brunet chuckled sardonically, "I'm a mafia boss, a bad guy, based on your friend's perspective, you know."

"Frankly, yeah," the red-haired part-timer said almost inaudibly and somewhat sadly, "you guys are too similar. Never tell me anything and suddenly disappear..."

That took the mafia boss by surprise, "But I genuinely don't know... Hey, the 'stupid manager' is calling. Could you go help him? I will deal with the parcels here."

Shoichi sighed for the hundredth time today, "yeah, yeah," and ran to Ryohei.

Tsuna got down to his work. Yeah, that was an excuse. He simply needed to be alone to think.

While he lived in Namimori longer than this world's him, he swore he did not recognise such a shrine.

Even so, that he felt he had been there before although he could not possibly be there before.

It's almost like...

"A déja vu..."

"What of déja vu, Tsuna-nii?"

"I mean that Sakura tree and— Hiee- I mean, Fuuta?"

"Yes?" his younger colleague looked at him with great expectations for a juicy story.

"Er, ar... I forgot" the brunet mentally rebuked himself for his lack of attention. How could he thought aloud!

Fuuta pouted like a puppy in disappointment as a result, before getting excited again at other things, "Wow, Tsuna-nii! You arranged all these boxing gloves? It's really need arrangement, based on size, weight, design and brands. Good job!"

'Shoichi did that,' Tsuna thought but mumbled "Thanks" anyway.

"As expected, Tsuna-nii is so amazing!"

"Yeah?"

"Let me put you the first in arranging boxing gloves for a sports shop right now!" Fuuta said, taking out his abnormally bog scrapbook and pen.

"Wait, wait, that's —" inaccurate, or so Tsuna wanted to say but he couldn't so as not to make Fuuta pout like a puppy again (because it's heart-wrenching!).

"What? Do you wanna hear my other rankings for you?" Fuuta looked up, winking at Tsuna.

"That's not it..."

"Don't be shy! Ok, Tsuna-nii, Tsuna-nii. Used to be ranked first in dame-ness, but now top ten a hard-working sacrificial bastard. Ranked the first on heel-face turn over a new leaf from an ultimate scum of society."

"WHAT the heck is that?" Tsuna felt genuinely offended though it's true, either to him or this world's him.

"You're third most likely to become, let's see... a beautician!"

"Pardon?"

"And second most likely in the Japanese male population to be single all your life!"

"Now, that's..."

"Wow, manager-san also ranks second for most likely to become a UN secretary."

"Is that possible?" Tsuna imagined a UN secretary screaming extremes at a country with a civil war.

"And your friend, I mean Irie Shoichi-san, is most likely among all Japanese second-years to become a loan shark."

"Erm, Fuuta, I was wondering if you actually projected your fear of Shouchi's bashing and admiration of me onto your rankings, by any chance?"

"No, I simply based them on my network of intel," Fuuta answered with a poker face.

"Eh, do you have your own intelligence squad, despite being just a student?"

"Of course, with my spiritual divination of the stars!"

The brown-haired mafia boss paused at that. If Fuuta of this world also had the same power as his world's Fuuta, then maybe he could use Fuuta to get back.

But– wait– that meant he should be a beautician and not a mafia boss?

And UN actually needed extreme people?

And Shoichi was actually cruel inside... Hmm, somehow (considering he headslaps and bashing he always received from the guy) it sounded very plausible!

It was a risky decision, but...!

"Fuuta, could you tell me... who's most likely to in an alternate universe right now?"

The excited ranker suddenly went quiet at that, which also made Tsuna nervous.

But the ranker suddenly put his palm out, "That's outside the promotion. You have to pay ¥1000 for that."

"WHAT?" the mafiaso jaw-dropped.

"It's classified, Tsuna-nii," Fuuta said in a solemn business-like tone.

Tsuna stopped in his track. May be Fuuta did know something all about this. After all, there were so many coincidences. There must be someone behind all this, in Namimori, who knew him... The one with strange, unhuman powers like Byakuran...

And Fuuta fit the bill.

The brunet was reluctant to give his hard-earned money to his colleague, but this is the only ray of hope.

Well, to the mafia, money and loyalty made the world go round. Tsuna took out the ¥1000 bill from his pocket.

"Do we have a deal now?" Tsuna adopted a boss-like tone.

At that, Fuuta broke out in laughter. Then, the manager, Ryohei, also came out of the corner he hid, along with Shoichi, guffawing.

"So he believed it to the extreme, Fuuta!"

"I know, you're quite dense sometimes, but..." the red-haired geek facepalmed in shame.

"Wh-What is going on?" Tsuna scratched his head.

"While I like ranking, it's just a hobby. I simply made up weird ranking jokes to see if you would see through it or not. Ha ha, Tsuna-nii, you really are the best, on the 'gullible' ranking, that is!" Fuuta explained panting from all the laughs he had.

"You were extremely serious there, Sawada!"

"You even gave the money you borrowed me when you only had ¥20 yourself," Shoichi added, "And what's up with the loan shark thing?"

The mafia boss blushed. He was over-reading into this! Again!

Maybe knowing a lot of people in other universe is not a good thing after all! "Guys, don't you have anything better to do than harassing me?"

"There are not many customers today, so I'm bored," Fuuta said with another pout.

As the manager, Ryohei also noticed that, "You're extremely right!" So he thought it is time for suggestions, "How about we hold an extreme boxing match to call for customers?"

"Good idea!" said Fuuta.

"Nah," Irie shook his head.

"Nah," Tsuna shook his head.

Totally ignoring the majority view of his employees (again), Ryohei pointed at Tsuna, "Sawada! I ordered you to box with me to the extreme!"

"Not again..."

It's not just that sakura tree. **Déja vu** was actually occurring all the time for Tsuna since coming here!

* * *

**:: To be continued ::**

_Author's note: Hi, it was pathetic of me to spend hours writing this chapter instead of revising when my exam is literally next week! Anyway, hope you enjoy a stressed sixth-former's dry sense of humor!_


	16. Chapter 15

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**The mafia boss got a pizza delivery  
**

_A young man, probably in his early twenties, entered a bar snuck in a street corner of Milan. Despite his age, he was dressed in a classy suit. Also, while having silverish hair, his face was barely 'European.'_

_His name is Gokudera Hayato, a notorious freelance hitman from a former influential Milano famiglia that had fallen into decay._

_He sat down by a much older guy also dressed in a classy suit._

_After ordering his drink, the younger man, who happened to be a heavy smoker, was offered a cigarette by the older man._

_"I know ye. You're the lone wolf of North Milan, right? How cheesy." the old man began to chat as a friendly tease. Even so, the younger said no word back at all. Nor did he nod or shake his head._

_"Look," said the old man, clearly flustered by the younger's insolence, "I'd let this pass, but in our line of work, age is the thin' ye know?"_

_Getting lectured un-called for, the younger mafiaso clicked his tongue, "Just get down to business already."_

_At the boy's attitude, the old man huffed things like "Arrogant, ain't ye?" before deciding to do as the young man said, "Ahem– We have a job for you abroad."_

_"Why abroad?" the younger mafiaso frowned._

_Ignoring the question as a revenge, the older man went on, "Guess what, it's Japan. In Asia. Where. ye. are. from."_

_The half-Japanese mafiaso glared intimidatingly at that._

_Feeling a sense of victory, the older mafiaso chuckled, "Well, doesn't matter. Your target is even more Asian than you, but guess what he has the Vongola blood!"_

_"!?"_

_"Interested in seeing what kind of person he is, yea?"_

_Indeed, Gokudera couldn't help but feel curious. In his twenty years of being a foreigner in such a racist world of the mafia, he subconsciously hoped that this guy may be the gleam of light for him._

_Despite his suspicion over what kind of a job Vongola would have to outsource freelancers instead of their people to get their hands dirty,_

_His sis is gonna kill him for leaving her alone, but she's been unfair to Gokudera too! She always kept him in the dark but a smart boy like Goudera didn't take much to figure out since he was a small boy how could he has Japanese looks and names despite supposedly having an Italian sister and an Italian father._

_Now, he is old enough to grab the chance.__"Ah, I'll take it," he said hesitantly._

_The older man smirked, handing the documents and dispatched from the bar immediately after._

* * *

Tokyo, a few months later

"So how's your vacation, Sawada-kun?"

Sawada Tsunayoshi or the 'mafia boss from the other world,' laughed dryly, "Ha ha, I don't know if you can really call it a vacation, Manager."

After all, he had been part-timing to pay back his tickets during the so-called vacation.

As if reading his thoughts, his co-worker, Nagi, joined their conversation, "Must be hard supporting your mum with several jobs, huh?"

"Yeah, but having Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto helps a lot" Tsuna absent-mindedly replied, "Wait! How could you know about my mum?"

Nagi only replied with her straight face, "Getting hands on intel is my specialty. You can call it one of my part time jobs, like Muku-chan's forgery."

Nagi then directed her stare to Tsuna, "So could you please tell me about your 'Gokudera-kun' and 'Yamamoto'?"

Tsuna hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to let Nagi in on a bit, but only in part, "They're just my roommates. We share room, in other words."

"Hmm," Nagi took out a pen and a notebook, "What are they doing for a living?"

Again, absent-mindedly Tsuna replied, "Well, Gokudera-kun is now, surprisingly, a nursery school teacher while Yamamoto-kun just got a new job as a sushi restaurant sous chef... Wait! What's wrong with my brain and mouth today!?"

"Heh," Nagi tried to pry more, " 'surprisingly' and 'just got a new job' you say..."

"I won't say any more!" Tsuna said firmly.

* * *

After the part-time shift at the bookstore, Tsuna met up with Shoichi in front of the store.

"Hello, shall we get going," the brick-haired geek started pacing even before his friend got to respond.

"H-hi, Shoichi-kun. I told you not to wait for me every single time I finish my work."

With a huff, Irie Shoichi retorted, "Who wouldn't? After you suddenly ran all the way to your hometown, skipping jobs when your financial situation is so dire!"

"Ha ha ha," Tsuna could only give a dry laughter as he couldn't really say otherwise.

Tsuna approached his apartment room for a brief lunch break before his next job shift. Of course, Irie kept tagging along him.

Coincidentally, Gokudera was at home since it's Sunday.

"I'm back," Tsuna greeted his assassins-cum-flatmates.

Thrilled to see the brunet but pissed off to see the red head, Gokudera snarled unwelcomely, "Don't you have an afternoon class too, Irie Shoichi?"

The engineering student sighed, "Obviously it's holiday right now. Have you ever been to college?"

Which of course only pissed the half-Japanese even more, "You—"

"Wait, that's supposed to be a joke," Tsuna tried to mediate.

"Irie Shoichi was damn right when he said I never went to college," Gokudera confessed with tears.

Tsuna felt bad for unintentionaly hurt Gokudera's pride, "Sorry to hear that?"

"And who wants to know that anyway," Irie eyerolled.

Pissed off, Gokudera snarled, "There's nothing wrong with not having higher education, you four-eye bastard!" then noticing that Tsuna also had a glass on, "Erm, I didn't mean to Tenth. I mean that Irie bastard. No! Let me make up by banging my head on the tatami mat hundred times!"

"Please don't, Hayato," said the AU mafia boss (so used to this) in an indifferent voice, "I don't want to pay a cleaning fee afterwards for your blood stains."

Before the fight between two young men worsened, the door bell rang (to Tsuna's relief).

"A delivery to Sawada-sama" said the voice behind the door.

"I-I'll answer the call for you," Tsuna quickly offered and rushed away from his quarrelling friends.

"Let me escort you!" Gokudera squeaked.

What Tsuna didn't expect was that he would end up wishing he hadn't answer the call.

Because...

"Two L-size Vongola pizza for you with a bottle of coca cola, sir. Grazie!"

He was handed suspicious boxes of pizza he didn't order.

"What's wrong, sir?"

By the familiar pink-haired beauty, who didn't look Japanese at all.

"B-Bianchi!?" "Sis?" The mafia boss and the silver-haired man both vomited the name out with a twisted face.

"Hi, there, Gokudera," the woman addressed to Tsuna's roommate before turning to Tsuna, "Actually, this pizza is for free. Thanks for taking care of my brother."

Still in a daze, Tsuna accepted the pizza, "Tha-Thank you?" Wait, is he going to poison himself to death?

"S-Sis? Why are you here!?" Gokudera who finally managed to speak had an immediate nervous breakdown.

* * *

Tsuna learned three things about this world's Bianchi that's slightly - to - very different from his world.

Firstly, her cooking is rather normal. Unlike her alternate counterpart which had the (hell-sent) unique talent (for such a babe) of making any dishes poisonous, she is actually a good cook which immediately landed her a job in an Italian restaurant as she was looking for a part-time job to do while searching for Gokudera in Japan.

Secondly, Bianchi seemed to be on relatively good terms with Gokudera in this world. Though Gokudera did end up running away from home in this world as well (must be a symtom of being a Gokudera Hayato regardless of what universe), he didn't suffer the trauma of food poisoning and was actually raised by Bianchi herself who had to act instead of his mother, his dad and their former subordinates who left them and the family after it perished with the bankruptcy and the disappearance of the boss.

Finally, Bianchi came here to get Gokudera home. Apparently, she noticed that he took too long to complete the job of tailing Tsuna and was concerned if something happened to him. As of now, to Tsuna's relief, this Bianchi is (probably) not crazy enough to try killing him just to take his brother back. BUT HE JUST COULDN'T AFFORD TO BE CARELESS.

"I intended to make these for my brothers since he must miss some homemade dishes, but please have some" this world's Bianchi smiled innocently, which Tsuna found somewhat creepy, as she opened the pizza boxes she delivered.

"Wow, looks delicious, Itadakimasu," the naive college student Irie Shoichi immediately took on the free lunch offer.

Meanwhile, Gokudera may click his tongue endlesly, but both of his hands are already on the pizza.

Putting on guard as any mafia boss (with bad childhood trauma) should, Tsuna decided "Erm, I'll only observe" despite his rumbling stomach.

Getting business-like, Tsuna asked, "So, Bianchi-san, from how I see it, you came all the way here to persuade Gokudera back home."

"Yes," Bianchi said with tears, "He's my only family."

"Shut up," Gokudera snarled, "We're not even real siblings! And even if you are, I have decided to stay with such a big-spirited person like Sawada Tsunayoshi-sama here! I made him the _tenth_ person I admired!"

"That's troubleso— I mean that's not good, Gokudera-kun," said Tsuna who just got the chance to get rid of an overly zealous freeloader, erm, assassin after his life?, glancing at the heart-broken Bianchi who's sitting next to him, "Bianchi said she came all the way, even working part-times to afford the tickets back home for you."

That's fellow (poverish) part-timers' spirit!

"No! Since the day I heard about your feat of supporting your Okaa-sama, your only family like a tragic hero! I was really moved! So I couldn't leave you alone!" Gokudera hugged Tsuna feet with tears.

"Same," Irie nodded understandingly on the sideline. Tsuna gave the engineering student a deadly glare that said who asks for your opinion.

Bianchi sobbed harder, "I guess Sawada Tsunayoshi had to be dead for you to come back to me, right?"

At that, Tsuna gulped. Oh no, not again.

So the brunet immediately faced Gokudera, his (annoying) fanboy. He knew how to end this quickly (though Irie Shoichi would kick his ass for this).

"I will be blunt, Gokudera. I'm not really the Sawada Tsunayoshi you admire"

"!"

"Have you ever wondered why Sawada Tsunayoshi, who was supposed to be a weak college student managed to beat you guys up like that?"

"!"

"That's right,Gokudera, I'm..." Tsuna wanted to kill himself for his own imaginative lies, "an alien who actually killed Sawada and imposed him!"

"..."

"..."

Silence filled the room.

Shoichi facepalmed.

And surprisingly Gokudera Hayato, also an occult fan in this world, took it, "You bastard! I will stay here till you find a way to rescue Sawada-sama back!"

Tsuna rebuked himself for how stupid he is for creating lies that actually have an opposite effect of what he wanted.

Bianchi, who was certainly not convinced, asked her brother angrily, "Really, what's so great about your Sawada-sama!?"

Her brother smiled softly as he thought of the person he admired, "Like me, Sawada-sama only had his one family member his whole life. He stayed by his mother's side, working to support her and never running away despite the difficulties and the persecution from the mafia. It... struck me for someone who ran away from home..."

"Such a perfect person doesn't exist," unexpectedly that came from Tsuna.

Gokudera glared at the brunet, "What did you say, this imposter!"

"Never running away, huh? " was what Tsuna had been wondering all this time.

Gokudera took Tsuna'a shirt collar in rage, "Don't insult Sawada-sama!"

"Stop your whining!" the mafia boss said coldly, "Sawada-sama! Sawada-sama! Psychoanalysts called it 'Displacement' you know? You regret leaving your only family, Bianchi and simply tried to regain your life through your ideal vision of Sawada Tsunayoshi without actually knowing him."

Shocked, Gokudera dropped the brunet's collar.

"Hey, hey, Tsunayoshi. You're getting too emotional," Shoichi was confused by his friend's alternate version's behaviour.

Ignoring Shoichi, Tsuna breathlessly told Gokudera, "Know what you actually want."

Gokudera was stunned, "Wh-What I want?"

"You want to go back to your only family, Bianchi, too!" Tsuna said then deciding to give Gokudera a wake-up punch, "With this, we're over."

Falling from a hard punch, Gokudera pouted like a child at Bianchi, "Is it okay for me to go home?"

"Of course!"

"But my mother is dad's mistress!"

He was hit on the head by Bianchi, "Moron! That doesn't matter to me. We spent our whole lives supporting each other, and that's the only thing that mattered! So just come home already!"

"Even thought I... abandoned you like old man?"

"Well," with her characteristic smirk, Bianchi said, "I guess any brother needed his rebellious phase."

* * *

The next morning Tsuna woke up, finding only one hitman who used to come after his life, Yamamoto, in his room.

At the same time, his flatmate was also awake, mumbling absent-midedly, "It's so lonely without Gokudera, huh?"

Tsuna smiled a bit nostalgically, even though he rarely knew this world's Gokudera, "Well, at least the room is less crammed. I don't like freeloaders."

The remaining freeloader, Yamamoto, chuckled almost sadly, "So our three-person flat room becomes a two-person overnight, ha ha."

Feeling a bit lonely as well, Tsuna plucked out the letter that Bianchi gave him before they left for Italy:

_Dear Sawada Tsunayoshi,_

_Thanks to your weird but effective scolding, Gokudera realised his mistake and decided to go to his father's funeral in Milan. But he will certainly come back to get you to find the REAL Sawada (whatever the crap you said), he said. Well, for me, I don't believe you at all.  
_

_I thought that you're fishy, shady and dodgy, but I think you would benefit from knowing the mafia situation right now. NOT that I took a liking to you weirdos or anything!_

_ Obviously, you are being targeted by the Vongola. ___As an outsider, I don't know much about the Vongola and why the Vongola would target you, a civilian. _Timoteo, the Vongola Nono is already dead in this world, but I wouldn't say we have an official Vongola Decimo yet. The great famiglia is in civil war right now._

_Finally..._

"Now that I think about it, we three are quite similar," Yamamoto mumbled absent-mindedly.

For some reason, Tsuna ignored Yamamoto and dashed for the door.

The behaviour was totally unpredictable for Yamamoto, "Hey, Tsuna? where are you—"

Mechanically, Tsuna put on his shoes and rushed out of the room.

"Hey, wait," Yamamoto while wearing slippers chased after him.

At the end of the letter that was now dropped on the tatami floor wrote "_**Reborn is coming.**_"

* * *

To be continued...


	17. Chapter 16

**Part-time Mafia Boss!**

**Summary: **_One day Vongola Decimo woke up to find himself in an extremely small budget apartment room. He then found himself without money and having to live normally as a part-timer! But things weren't actually 'normal' as it seemed. Parallel World. Adult!Vongola. Part-time!Vongola. Partial-AU. No pairings._

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by the great mangaka, Akira Amano!**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**The mafia boss does a passenger-counting job**

Kurokawa Hospital, 6 AM

Kurokawa hospital in early morning was as serene as ever.

Aizawa Kaoru, a young nurse wiped away her sleep tears. She just couldn't get used to anti-social working hours like this, even starting to resent her work. So sleepy yet busy. She was pacing around, on her duty to check the patients.

It would be one of those normal, boring mornings for her had she not come across a guy about to move the freaking hospital bed out of the room!

"What the–" Aizawa tried to suppress the urge to swear, "Wh-what are you doing, sir?"

Robotically the man said as if talking to the ceiling, "I need to move her away from here."

"Excuse me?" the poor nurse was utterly confused.

"I said I need to move her out of here," the man said as if possessed.

Though very shocked, the nurse was not unused to mentally unstable patients/relatives trying to disturb other patients.

When it comes to this, Aizawa's experience is to be strict but logical. Breathing in and breathing out, Aizawa stated professionally, "It's dangerous to move the patient's around without the physician's permission."

But for some reason the man gave an intimidating glare, with his scary golden eyes, in return.

Suppressing the urge to wince at the menacing person, the nurse said more irritatedly, "Here, she would be in professional care. While with you, a professionally ignorant person, it's basically like selling your soul to the satan."

Auzawa actually wanted to crack at her own weird analogy. But well it's still early in the morning and her brain is still a bit hazy.

Ignoring her, the man wordlessly proceeded to move the bed out of the door.

"W-Wait!" the nurse tried to stop the man.

But the man gave her death glare, which made her helplessly frozen in her tracks.

Thankfully, before it got out of control, a black-haired man in his twenties stood in front of the robotic brunet.

"Tsuna, just what are you doing?" he said, making the nurse wonder if the brown-haired man called Tsuna is normally sane because even his friend was as surprised as she was.

"Yamamoto?" the patient kidnapper (at least that's how Aizawa decided to brand him) paused. He then looked down at the hospital bed, "Wh-What's this? Wh-why am I trying to move her?"

The man called Yamamoto approached him, "You suddenly rushed out of the flat, so I was a bit shocked. What happened to your mother?"

In shock, Tsuna let go of the hospital bed, which Aizawa promptly seized and took back to its place.

"I-It w-was," the brunet was shuddering from head to toe, even his voice, eyes look totally lost and confused, "like a-a r-reflex.

"Just calm down," his flat mate patted his back comfortingly, "maybe you just... you just... sleepwalked!"

"S-Sleepwalking?"

Yamamoto tried to chuckle, "Have you heard of cases where people drive a car or even kill someone while asleep? That sort of thing does exist."

For the former hitman Yamamoto, he always knew Tsuna as lively and confident, though somewhat cheeky guy, with mature view of the world as if nothing could shake him.

But now he was shaking and looked so weak.

Yamamoto decided that it's time he needed to look after and comfort his life's saver who changed and forgave his bloodstained life.

But for Tsuna, even sleepwalking is terrifying.

Because what could happen or could he do despite not being conscious of that?

* * *

"Hey, don't space out!"

A voice broke Tsuna from his train of thoughts.

Before Tsuna were humans marching here and there monotonously, just living their daily lives of commuting to work, school and so on. The somewhat annoying pip-pip sound every time an IC card is placed on the gate's scan rang everywhere.

Beside Tsuna was Irie Shoichi, a second year engineering student who clicked the metallic cylinder which changed its number display every time a passenger came out of the gate.

Oh, yes, he's doing a passenger-counting job with Shoichi.

"I know it's a boring job, but the money is good and it's easy, so just bear with it," said his friend.

Despite the tumult and unrest in his mind, Tsuna decided to force a smile and strike up a comversation with Shoichi so that his friend would not notice that something just happened, "How do you know about this kind of job."

Getting an unexpected question, Irie quirked his brows, "Well, Sawada told me, so..."

Shoichi smiled fondly as he reminisced his younger days, "It was a summer vacation after we finished our exams. I told Sawada I wanted to earn some money quickly and easily although I simply wanted to keep him company. So he dragged me to do this sort of work. To be honest, it was so boring that I slept in a few hours."

"You must really care about him," Tsuna could see that from how Shoichi reminisced about his friend.

"Of course!" said the brick-haired student, continuing with excited eyes "Anyway, Sawada was amazing! He didn't even doze off. He does his job perfectly! Didn't lose sight of a single passenger."

Tsuna looking at the cylindrical tool in his hand was, however, unconvinced, "I don't think there is such a perfect person."

"Well, I wouldn't say Sawada is a _perfect_ being," Shoichi said as if in deep thoughts, "but he certainly is a hard worker. He managed to do so many things single-handedly!"

Tsuna felt sorry for interrupting an admirer of this world's him, but he couldn't help but correct, "You know, I might be an outsider, but there are a few times when you actually helped him escape from the bad guys, remember?"

"That's true, but I was in the way rather," Shoichi said with a voice laced with shame.

"Nah, remember that time you tampered with the mafia's car, so it exploded before they could go to the hospital where Sawada's mother is. You really helped him there."

"Huh?" it was now Shoichi's turn to be confused himself.

"Was I wrong?" Tsuna felt awkward for trying to act cool and comfort his friend but ending up saying the wrong thing, "Argh, just forget it."

"No, it's accurate," Irie Shoichi said with a gulp, "too accurate, to be frank."

"And," Tsuna clicked as he spotted another passenger exiting the gate, "what's wrong with that."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I haven't told you in such a great _detail_," Irie frowned.

Feeling suspected for strange reasons, Tsuna automatically insisted, "You really did. Otherwise, how could I, someone from another universe, would know it?"

"That's exactly the thing!" Irie said as if he had his moment of eureka.

Suddenly, the engineering student grabbed his friend's shoulder with so much force that it hurt, "Maybe Sawada is still inside you after all!"

Feeling very uncomfortable, Tsuna extracted Shoichi's hands from his shoulder, "I d-don't understand?

"You said this is this world Sawada's body, right?"

"Yeah, because it's so physically untrained."

Getting excited at the new prospect, the geeky boy stood up, "So I wonder if you could share his memories or something too. Sawada may even here us at this very moment!"

"But I don't feel his presence at all," Tsuna felt sick at the idea.

Ignoring Tsuna's insistence, Shouchi stared into his friend's eyes trying to find something,"Sawada! Are you there? This is Irie, your friend!"

At that, the Sawada Tsunayoshi in front of him went silent.

"Sa-Sawada? Is that you" that really got Irie's hope up.

Only to be tsukkomi-ed by the very same Sawada Tsunayoshi, "Idiot, it's impossible for two people to be in the same body, obviously."

Patting the sore forehead courtesy of the brunet's tsukomi, the red-haired pouted, "But how else could you know in such a great detail?"

The mafia boss sighed, "Dunno. Maybe you do forget what you said sometimes?"

Pretty confident of his memory, Irie frowned. Nevertheless, he also thought his hypothesis was ridiculous, "Yeah, maybe you're right."

The mafia boss sighed again, "It's already 10pm. Let's finish our job."

* * *

By the time they finished their work, it was almost 11. Tsuna parted with Irie at the usual junction. Each of them went their ways home.

As Tsuna walked down the narrow street to his apartment, he felt he was being _watched_.

* * *

By the time Tsuna returned to his flat room, Yamamoto was about to sleep.

Sensing Tsuna, Yamamoto greeted groggily, "Welcome back."

"I'm back," Tsuna replied in a subdued voice.

"Are you okay? You looked very... lost... this morning."

The brunet smiled cheerfully back, "I'm okay now. Thanks for your concerns."

But Yamamoto, an expert at faking cheeriness, could immediately detect how fake the smile was.

"I'm going to have a shower. You go to sleep."

Deciding to leave his friend alone, Yamamoto retired to his futon.

* * *

As soon as Tsuna let himself in the bathroom he locked the door. Being the small flat room it is, he could see his own reflection on the wall mirror instantly as he stepped in. And this actually made him feel worse.

"Will I die just like this?" Tsuna asked his own reflection almost soundlessly. He tried to tell himself not to be depressed, but...

For some reason, he felt like crouching down. Hugging his face between his knees, Tsuna whispered repeatedly to himself, "I don't want to disappear.I don't want to disappear.I don't want to disappear."

* * *

_Was Tsuna afraid of the world's greatest hitman or something else?_

**To be continued.**

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**Author's note: Ahem, Tea here. I hope this chapter is not too depressing. You may notice that there is barely any gag in this chapter at all. But, well, at least, I can tell you that the plot is reaching the point where it will ne serious from now on. Anyway, please read and review!  
**


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